When MS Dhoni ignored Michael Hussey’s advice to tackle Rashid Khan
Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey has a long relationship with Chennai Super Kings and its skipper MS Dhoni. On a recent podcast, Michael Hussey revealed what happened in the lead-up to MS Dhoni’s dismissal to Sunrisers Hyderabad leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 Qualifier.
Hussey revealed that he had information on Rashid Khan's bowling action a day before the game from the video analyst, and then passed it on to the CSK batsmen, including MS Dhoni.
“The night before the qualifying final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he (the analyst) sent me this split-screen of Rashid Khan,” Michael Hussey said on the Lessons Learnt with the Greats podcast.
“When he (Rashid) runs in to bowl, when he bowls his leg-spinner, he holds his finger wide as he’s running in, and when he bowls a wrong ‘un, (he bowls) with fingers like this.
“And I thought – ‘Woah, this is good, but I am not sure if I should be throwing this out to the batsmen the night before this massive qualifying final’. So, I am sitting on this information, and I am going back and forth – ‘Should I, should I not, would I want it’.
“And I said to myself – If we play this game tomorrow and lose, and Rashid Khan goes really well, and I have sat on this info and I haven’t sent it out, I am not going to forgive myself. So, I decided to send it out to all the batsmen. But I did make sure I wrote: ‘You may want to use this, you may not. It is just here for your information. If you want anything, go for it, if not...
“Some of the guys loved it. Faf du Plessis loves this kind of stuff – he wants to know how many slower balls Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s going to bowl in the first six overs, he wants to know all the different grips and everything. But there are other players who probably don’t want to use it. Anyway, I sent it out to all batsmen,” the Australian southpaw said.
MS Dhoni perished early in the qualifier against SRH
Chasing 140 in Mumbai, CSK slipped to 24 for 3 when MS Dhoni walked in. He struggled to 9 off 18 when he played for the turn against the Afghanistan leg-spinner, only to be bowled by a googly.
“MS Dhoni, you didn’t really hear a reply (from), which is generally normal. We come to the game, we’re playing it and we’re in big trouble and MS is in the middle, and while he’s in the middle, we’re still thinking there’s a chance to win this game.
“Rashid Khan comes on to bowl, one of the very first balls he (MS Dhoni) faces, goes for the big cover drive – wrong ‘un, bowled through the gate. And I’m thinking ‘Uh, gosh. Okay, no worries.’
“And MS Dhoni walks straight off the field, and I am sitting in the dugout and he walks straight up to me and says ‘I’ll bat my own way, thanks,’ and sits back down,” the 45-year-old recalled.
Michael Hussey turned out in 79 Tests, 185 ODIs and 38 T20s for Australia and most of them after the age of 30. He is the third-highest run-getter for the franchise, behind Suresh Raina with 3699 runs and skipper MS Dhoni with 2987 runs.
The Australian left-hander’s contribution in the team for seven out of eight seasons was 1768 runs at an average of 42 with 13 fifties and a century. He scored the century in the first edition of the Indian Premier League against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali.
“As a coach, I thought my days are over forever! But, to MS’s credit, after the game, he was absolutely fantastic. He came up and spoke to me and we had a good chat. He said that the information was correct, but for him, he needed time to go away and process it and practise it.
“What he did in the game was, he thought he saw it was going to be a leg-spinner, played a shot, didn’t bother watching the bowl, and obviously he was done through the gate with the wrong ‘un,” the Western Australian said.
“He [MS Dhoni] said ‘If I had got time in the nets, have a look at the hand as he was running in to bowl, then still watch the ball then I would have time to build it into the routine. And it would have been very beneficial’,” Michael Hussey recalled.
CSK went on to win the match by two wickets courtesy du Plessis' 67 not out. They beat SRH in the final once again to win their third title and accord CSK and MS Dhoni the perfect return after a two-year hiatus.