Dhoni on death bowling: It’s important to determine whether the issue was with the execution or the idea
In the IPL, there will be close games, like the one on Sunday between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings in Chennai, and MS Dhoni said after CSK’s last-ball loss that they should “close games like these” rather than come out on the losing end.
Dhoni also wants CSK to strengthen their bowling during the powerplay, despite his admiration for Matheesha Pathirana’s on-field performance.
“We need to look at what we can improve, because you will have games like these. But what is important is to close games like these,” he told the host broadcaster after the game.
“Pathirana bowled really well, but other than that, the first six overs can get better – especially from the fast bowlers. What is their getaway delivery that they can bowl? Other than that, I’m quite happy with the bowling.”
The statistics support Dhoni. CSK has the highest economy rate on the powerplay this year among all teams, at 10.12. In that phase, they have also given up the most runs among all teams with 66 fours and 20 sixes.
On Sunday afternoon, CSK batted first and scored 200 runs thanks to Devon Conway’s 92 not out, but they still lost the game.
Kings needed 72 runs to win in the final five overs, but that’s precisely when things started to change: 24 runs came off a – from Tushar Deshpande, with Liam Livingstone smacking three sixes off the over’s first four balls.
“I think 200 was part because we know the conditions well. We needed to bowl the right lengths,” Dhoni said. “I feel there were a few times when we didn’t bowl the right lengths. You don’t really want the batsmen to hit in front. So when you have that kind of a game plan, you don’t want to get hit [on] that side. So what is important to see is whether the execution was the problem, or the plan was the problem.
“What was important was to be prepared when the opposition needs so many runs: ‘what is the delivery that i want to bowl’ – whether it’s a yorker or outside-off yorker? You want to use the dimensions of the ground. I think that’s where we committed a bit of fault.”
However, CSK didn’t contribute enough in the final few overs of their batting innings, similar to how they fell short at the end of their bowling innings.
They managed only 42 when they appeared bound for much more, especially with Conway well established at the crease and Moeen Ali having gotten off to a fast start. They were at 158 with eight wickets in hand after 16 overs. For CSK to reach 200, Dhoni had to hit back-to-back sixes off the final two balls of the innings.
“Maybe in the last few overs when we were batting, we could have got another ten runs,” Dhoni said. “Were we in that position to get those extra 10-15 runs? Because our bowling line-up needs a lot more exposure, so is it something that the batsmen could have done? Or is it something that the bowling department needs to look at?”