The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a phenomenal comeback to the Indian Premier League (IPL)  in 2018 after serving a two-year ban. They went on to famously win the title once again under the inspired leadership of MS Dhoni. The Men in Yellow defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final on the back of Shane Watson’s nerve-wracking century. However, Ambati Rayudu was the start for them throughout the season batting at the top of the order.

Rayudu’s international career got revived with his impressive batting in the cash-rich T20 league. However, the skipper Dhoni, before the start of the season, was worried about two players, Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu, the most. On Friday, he attended the coffee table book launch which is based on the journey of India Cements in Chennai.

Dhoni received the first copy of the coffee table book, Defying the Paradigm, from the Tamil Nadu Cheif Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. During the event, former Indian skipper recalled his journey with the CSK franchise since the inception of the IPL and also denied the team’s existence without India Cements.

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MS Dhoni said that before the season started earlier this year, he was afraid of the aggressive nature of Watson and Ambati Rayudu. He explained, “The only thing that I was worried before the season was about Watson and Rayudu. They both are aggressive in nature. Rayudu if he feels that it’s a wide or no-ball & if the umpire does not give it, he will stretch his hands.”

"The only thing that I was worried before the season was about Watson & Rayudu. They both are aggressive in nature. Rayudu if he feels that it's a wide or no-ball & if the umpire does not gives it, he will stretch his hands"
– MS Dhoni (at his humorous best) #NSBookLaunch #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/909hP2UItd

— WhistlePodu Army ® – CSK Fan Club (@CSKFansOfficial) December 28, 2018

Interestingly, these two cricketers went on to play a crucial role in the team’s title-winning triumph during the glittering T20 league. More often than not they gave CSK a good start in the powerplay and one of them used to play a big knock and no wonder they ended up scoring the most runs for the team.

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Recently, Former Indian cricketers, Sunil Gavaskar, and Gautam Gambhir criticized the players like Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, etc who rested themselves from the Ranji Trophy 2018-19. Talkin about the same, Dhoni expressed that the India players should not be criticized for their “individual preferences”. He said it was important for players to preserve themselves, given the packed calendar.

The CSK skipper explained, “It is important to safeguard players. We have to make the domestic circuit slightly less challenging [in terms of the itinerary] for the individual. Moreover, it is important to be not too critical of T20 cricket and also individual preferences. Individual preferences should not be criticized.”