In the Qualifier 1 of IPL 2018, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni didn’t give a single over to the experienced off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Now, he opened up the reason that why he didn’t use the 37-year-old experienced Indian off-spinner.

It was the match between CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) where CSK claimed a thrilling 2-wicket victory (with 5 balls remaining). They restricted SRH to 139/7 (20 overs), but the off-spinner Harbhajan Singh didn’t bowl an over, who has taken 7 wickets in 12 games in this IPL season.

Talking about that surprising decision, CSK skipper Dhoni said, “I have a lot of cars and bikes in my house. I don’t ride all at a time. A lot of times, especially when you have six to seven bowlers in the side, you want to see the conditions, you want to see who is batting and what is needed at that point of time. I see what is in best interest of the team.”

Dhoni further added, “In the past, we had Negi and Jadeja, and I gave them different slots of bowling. And the unreal thing is that a lot of times the player gets criticised at times for what the batsman is doing. I always check what is the condition and what is in the best interest of the team then before deciding on the bowler as to who has the best chance to succeed over the bowler. Like in the last game I didn’t feel it was necessary for him (Harbhajan) to bowl. But for Bhajji, he is really experienced when it comes to any format of the game,”

Dhoni also concerns about the players’ fitness as he wants his best eleven players for the final game.

The 36-year-old experienced captain said on that, “The age-group of the boys was definitely a concern, you had to keep them fit. We had to take care of the resources and to make sure that when we come to the business end of the tournament, the best 11 is available for selection.”