IPL 2021: "We're not doing anything drastically different from what we did last year" - MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a fourth consecutive victory in IPL 2021 on Sunday. Following the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the former Indian captain shared his thoughts about the match and heaped massive praise on Ravindra Jadeja.
Ravindra Jadeja was sent in to bat at No. 5 against RCB, ahead of Sam Curran, DJ Bravo and Dhoni himself.
The wicketkeeper-batsman said they made this move to give the southpaw extra time in the middle. Indeed it worked in their favor as Jadeja scored 62 off only 28 deliveries.
"Jaddu is somebody who can change the game on his own. In the last few years, we've seen significant change in batting and it's worth it to give him that extra bit of time, extra deliveries," MS Dhoni said.
MS Dhoni, in hindsight, opined that 165 was a par score. But he acknowledged that the extra runs on the board put the opposition under pressure.
"The bowlers have found it difficult to contain left-handers, and that helps as well. You can't really predict the quantum of victory. There's no control to how many runs or wickets. When we started we had the conversation about whether to bat or bowl. It's a good wicket but I felt the spinners had something up their sleeves and I felt that extra few runs Jadeja made helped. 165 would have been par, and once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder," Dhoni said.
MS Dhoni reiterates the importance of getting the process right
Speaking about his decision to bat first, MS Dhoni mentioned that these decisions keep changing according to different conditions.
"You cannot make your strategy on the assumption of what dew will do - frankly, some games have been high scoring, some have been low scoring. You have to assess every game and today we made the right decision to bat," the 39-year-old continued.
When asked if the team has changed anything since last year, MS Dhoni said that CSK is focused on the process. He believes this has helped them excel so far this season.
"We're not doing anything drastically different from what we did last year. Me and Fleming, we keep saying that we focus on the process. You gain more respect if you keep following your path when you're under pressure. I think that is something that gave a lot of confidence to the players. Credit to the players. Everybody would have felt the pressure in the first game because it was a lean season," he added.
Chennai Super Kings are currently placed at the top of the points table with four wins in five games.