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Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary slammed the coaching staff for not having the nerve to tell legendary MS Dhoni to move up the order. Tiwary made these comments after CSK lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 50 runs at MA Chidambaram Stadium, their first defeat to the Bengaluru-based franchise at home since the inaugural edition in 2008.
Dhoni walked out to bat at no.9, even after Ravichandran Ashwin had departed. With 28 balls to go in the run chase, there was little he could do. He went berserk in the final over of the innings, hitting Krunal Pandya for two sixes and a four. Holding back Dhoni did not make sense for Tiwary.
"It's beyond my understanding how a batter like MS Dhoni, who can stay unbeaten after scoring 30 off 16 balls, why not move up the order? You are playing to win right?" Majoj Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
"That coaching staff (CSK), they do not have the guts to tell MS Dhoni to move up the order. Once he has decided, that's it," he added.
Sehwag 'not surprised'
While Tiwary was baffled by the decision, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was not surprised.
"This is something he and his team have decided. That he will only play a certain number of balls. He always comes to bat during the 17th or 18th over, he came at the same situation...I am not surprised. It's not like if he came on to bat earlier, anything about this match would have changed because of the way RCB was playing," Sehwag said in the same discussion.
Last time Dhoni batted at no.9
While the introduction of 'impact player' rule has pushed Dhoni's batting position down the order, this was only the second time he has batted at no.9. The last time he walked out at the tailender's position was in the previous edition against Punjab Kings (PBKS) when Harshal Patel dismissed him for a golden duck.
Dhoni's CSK record
While CSK lost to RCB by 50 runs at home, Dhoni scripted history at Chepauk. He became the leading run-scorer (4,699 runs) for CSK in IPL history surpassing Suresh Raina (4,687 runs). The 43-year-old achieved the feat in his 204th innings.
