When MS Dhoni walked in to bat when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was chasing a target of 217 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 4 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 and they were requiring 103 runs off 38 balls. However, the CSK captain, Dhoni put the blame on the openers, who, despite getting 53 in the first six overs without getting separated, didn’t give CSK a “very good start.”

During the post-match presentation, MS Dhoni said, “With 217 on the board, we needed a very good start which was not the case.” When asked why he promoted, Sam Curran, debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of him, he said, “I haven’t batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help.”

ALSO READ: MS Dhoni Gets Trolled For Not Showing Intent Against RR

Dhoni has been known for grooming youngsters and he did the same by promoting Curran for a second straight game. It almost paid off as Curran teed off for 17  from five ballsbefore getting stumped off Rahul Tewatia.

Talking about Curran, Dhoni said, “Also (I) wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. (We) Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths.”

The CSK captain samshed a hat-trick of  sixes towards the end of the CSK innings which brought some joy to the fans but it didn;t contributed in the win for his team. Dhoni credited the RR spinners on a Sharjah pitch tailor-made for batting.

ALSO READ: Sanju Samson Garners Immense Praise For His Fastest IPL Fifty

Talking about the contribution of the RR players, MS Dhoni said, “Need to give credit to their bowlers. Once you’ve seen the first innings, you know the length to bowl. Their spinners did well to bowl away from the batsman. Our spinners made the error to bowl too full. Without singling out anyone, a controllable we could have controlled is no-balls. Had we not bowled no-balls, we would have been chasing 200, and it would have been a very good game, it would’ve been a good game.”