Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, who is very articulate while putting forwards his thoughts on a particular topic, was in a fix tonight while trying to comprehend the ‘Impact Player rule‘ introduced in the ongoing 16th edition of the Indian Premier League.
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Having won their seventh match of the season on what was a traditional, sluggish pitch in Chennai against the Delhi Capitals, CSK’s spinners were yet again on top of their game. The trio of Maheesh Theekshana, Moeen Ali, and Ravindra Jadeja had collectively conceded mere 51 runs off their ten Overs, while defending the target of 168 runs.
With spinners having the larger say in the entire match, former India spinner Murali Kartik – Star Sports’ designated presenter for the night, had inquired Dhoni post-match whether he was tempted to introduce left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner as the impact player at some point in Delhi’s chase or not.
MS Dhoni Fails to Understand Impact Player Rule
Dhoni, after pausing for a bit, correctly mentioned the fact that if a team has four overseas players in the playing XI the impact player cannot be a fifth or another overseas player.
However, the CSK skipper perhaps had forgotten that there were only three overseas players named in the team’s starting XI, after he had opted to bat first.
With Kartik then trying to explain the situation again, a confused Dhoni then needlessly (and incorrectly) tried to imply that since Moeen Ali had already batted, there was no way to rope in Santner as the impact player.
Hilariously, Kartik too was somehow convinced with Dhoni’s argument and tried to brush the topic under the carpet, only to bring it back again after the latter suggested how great an asset Santner is for his side.
Kartik finally gets his senses back
If Dhoni’s argument was not enough, Kartik seemed to suggest him that Santner could have replaced Devon Conway as the impact player during the Capitals’ chase.
Since the impact player rule doesn’t necessitate the substitution of an overseas player for an overseas impact player during the match, Kartik, too, had messed it up here.
Finally, with the topic becoming more complex for Dhoni’s liking, better sense prevailed and Kartik correctly mentioned that only three overseas players were part of CSK’s initial playing XI. However, it was all too late as Kartik himself moved on towards another topic of discussion.
Click here, to watch Dhoni and Kartik’s post-match interaction.
Who was CSK’s impact player tonight versus DC?
CSK’s playing XI initially had only three overseas players in Devon Convay, Moeen Ali, and Maheesh Theekshana.
With the option of bringing in an overseas impact player on, it was pretty obvious that their go-to death bowler Matheesha Pathirana would be that player. Pathirana had, thus, replaced Shivam Dube in the playing XI.
