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On April 9, MS Dhoni walked out to bat at no.5, in the run chase against Punjab Kings (PBKS), even ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Vijay Shankar. But, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull feels it was too late for Dhoni to take control of the run chase as CSK required 69 runs to win from 25 balls. Doull feels Dhoni still possesses six-hitting ability but it was not his fault that he arrived at the crease in the 16th over.
“Dhoni had three sixes in 12 balls. The rest of the team had five in total. So that tells you he's still got the ability and power to hit those sixes. That's why we have been talking about getting him up in the order. Because 27 off 12 balls, when they are 2 down, actually can make a difference. It's not his fault,” Doull told Cricbuzz.
Doull says it was too late for Jadeja to assess
Meanwhile, Devon Conway was retired out in the 18th over of the run chase. The decision raised a few eyebrows as Conway was the set batter. However, Doull feels that Conway was retired too late as Ravindra Jadeja did not get a few deliveries to assess the conditions before going all out.
“Retiring Conway was an interesting decision. He had the pace of the pitch but his strike rate was too low. In a game where you've got a strike rate of 190 to win, he was scoring at 140. But he was retired out too late, too late for Jadeja to assess,” said Doull.
“But Dhoni was 27 off 12 balls... if it happens at no.3 or 4, that makes a difference to the game. By the time he came out to bat, the run rate was 14. It was too late,” he added.
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Conway scored 69 runs from 49 balls, including six fours and a couple of sixes. Jadeja faced just five deliveries and scored nine runs. CSK ended up losing the match by 18 runs. This was CSK's fourth defeat of the season.
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