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Irfan Pathan's sacrifice for MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir shows he has the Pune captain's number

Ms Dhoni narrowly survives defending the ball onto his stumps

Rising Pune Supergiants captain MS Dhoni had interesting brushes with two very old teammates and rivals of his on Saturday during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. The 34-year old Dhoni has been playing first class cricket since the 1999-2000 season, the same season which had also seen the debut of Delhi’s Gautam Gambhir, and one year before Irfan Pathan had burst onto the stage for Baroda. The India and RPS captain, therefore, has had a long and colourful history with both these characters, both of whom were involved in Saturday’s match.

Pune were officially knocked out after the defeat to KKR, making this the first season of the IPL that a Dhoni-led side will not be appearing in the playoffs. RPS have struggled to find the right combination this season, but the major responsibility for Saturday’s defeat has to be shouldered by Dhoni, whose 22-ball 8 was a painful reminder of the whole team’s frailties.

Dhoni stepped into the field in the 11th over, with Pune struggling at 74/4. Piyush Chawla’s spin was proving to be too hot to handle, and Kolkata skipper Gambhir spotted an opportunity to increase the pressure even more. He went back to a ploy he has used several times before with Dhoni – he surrounded him with fielders.

Yusuf Pathan and Shakib-al-Hasan were brought in as first and second slip, Surya Kumar Yadav was placed at forward short leg, and Gambhir himself stood at silly point. The ploy worked almost immediately, an awkward defensive shot almost resulted in the ball bouncing towards the wicket.

Gambhir has done this several times before, putting in a Test-like field for Dhoni. For all the years he has studied Dhoni’s game, he has realised this is something the India captain does not like.

This strategy was seen during the RPS-KKR match earlier this season as well, and was also seen during last year’s clashes between teams captained by the two of them, in the IPL as well as in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Dhoni’s scream pushes Pathan to sacrifice his wicket

At the non-striker’s end was Irfan Pathan, picked in the playing XI for the first time in May and only the second time in this IPL season. His brother would have a big role to play in the match for KKR, but he was himself involved in a dramatic moment too.

If there is one India player about whom Dhoni has been the most vocally critical of, it has to be Irfan Pathan. The duo were to share a different kind of relation on this day, however.

Pathan and Dhoni stuck at the crease for the next two overs, but runs were hard to come by and the pressure was building up. On the fifth ball of the 14th over, Dhoni had scored 5 runs off 14 balls, and was desperate to get off strike. He pushed the ball to point and called for a quick single. Pathan was a little slow to react, but it is doubtful whether there was a run possible at all.

Pathan took one step forward and immediately realised he had no way of making it and put his hand up. Dhoni was almost halfway down the track by then and was livid. He is not an expressive person usually, but all of his reserve had fallen off at that moment. He leapt up in the air and screamed at Pathan - 'Run!'

Pathan made a show of going for the run, sacrificing his wicket for the captain, also sacrificing his chance at impressing in a vital comeback match. The sacrifice, however, bore no fruits, as Gambhir continued to surround Dhoni with fielders, and soon the rain came down to curtail the first innings.

Dhoni’s 22-ball 8 is the slowest ever innings in the IPL, from among innings of more than 20 balls.

 

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