IPL 2021: "MS Dhoni was a lot cooler than Eoin Morgan when it came to captaincy" - Brad Hogg
Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg noted the stark difference in captaincy between Eoin Morgan and MS Dhoni, especially when both sides were subjected to similar pressure situations.
The CSK skipper added a fourth IPL title to his illustrious career as the Chennai-based franchise managed to defend their total against KKR in Dubai.
Hogg noted how in both the keeper squandered chances for an early breakthrough. Dinesh Karthik missed out on a stumping which would have sent back Faf du Plessis. In the second innings, MS Dhoni dropped a relatively simple chance to dismiss Venkatesh Iyer.
Both of those openers went on to score big runs, but CSK were able to pull things back despite the missed chance. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg said:
"Both the keepers had a bit of a nightmare early on. Karthik missing the stumping of du Plessis was a big momemt in the game and then we had MS Dhoni, the legend, dropping Venkatesh Iyer early on and then he also played a good knock.
"If Iyer had knocked around for around 3 or 4 more overs he could have got KKR into a more commanding position because Gill was not able to up the tempo. I've got to say MS Dhoni was a little bit cooler than Morgan when it came to captaincy."
Eoin Morgan struggled to put a hold on CSK's tempo in the first innings, especially in the middle overs. Three significant partnerships from the CSK unit meant that KKR had a mammoth total to chase to win their third IPL crown.
MS Dhoni was a lot calmer: Hogg
Hogg also noted how MS Dhoni was not constantly behind the bowler's back and trusted them to execute their plans. Hogg added:
"MS Dhoni was not running upto his bowlers and trying to slow things down and make sure they were ready with the plan. When you go into the finals, you don't want to try and change the momentum, you have to make sure the bowlers are in rhythm. Morgan was standing in front of the bowler during the back end of the CSK innings, what that does to a bolwer is that he loses his momentum and tends to be negative as well."
CSK were able to derail KKR's pursuit in the middle overs and exploited the weak middle order en route to their 27-run win in the 2021 IPL Final.