Ravindra Jadeja: The all-rounder from Chennai Super Kings conceded three sixes in the last over as Delhi beat Chennai by 5 wickets.
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Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni considers Shikhar Dhawan and the change in surface as two primary reasons behind Delhi Capitals defeating Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a 180-run target, Delhi sealed the chase in the last over on the back of Dhawan scoring his maiden IPL century, 101* (58), with the help of 14 fours and a six. Eventually, it was Capitals all-rounder Axar Patel who hit three sixes off his counterpart in Ravindra Jadeja to win the match in an emphatic manner.
“Shikhar’s [Dhawan] wicket was important, we did drop him quite a few times. He’s somebody if he is batting, he’ll keep ticking the scoreboard. He’ll keep taking his chances. If he’s there on the crease, he’ll always maintain a good strike rate. I felt his wicket was crucial.
“Also, there was difference between the first and second innings. The wicket behaved slightly better in the second innings, it came on slightly better which made it slightly easy for the batsmen. But overall, we can’t really take the credit away from Shikhar, he batted really well and was supported really well by the other batters,” Dhoni said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
MS Dhoni discloses why Ravindra Jadeja bowled last over ahead of DJ Bravo vs Delhi Capitals
Being asked to pick positives from their sixth IPL 2020 loss, Dhoni hailed all-rounder Sam Curran giving away just four runs in the penultimate over and hoped for his wide yorkers to work for them in the future as well.
“Sam’s [Curran] last over, the way he bowled. He needs to be convinced that he can execute outside off-side yorkers that is something most of the coaching staff want the bowlers to bowl.
“If you are not comfortable doing it, you can’t really push in the games. I feel this game will give him a lot of confidence when it comes to executing those yorkers, I feel that will be one delivery that is slightly difficult to hit,” Dhoni further said.
Dhoni’s decision to give the last over to Jadeja in place of a tried and tested name in Dwayne Bravo invited criticism. However, the 39-year old player explained reason behind the same.
“[Dwayne] Bravo was not fit. He went out and was really not able to come back. That was the reason we had to bowl [Ravindra] Jadeja. The option was between Karn [Sharma] and Jaddu [Jadeja] so I went ahead with Jaddu. Maybe not enough,” Dhoni added.
