Hussey: It’s the best I’ve seen Dhoni play

It has been a long time since MS Dhoni has featured on the list of Orange Cap contenders. To see him consistently keep himself hungry for runs and churning out one match-winning performance after another is truly amazing.

Currently, MSD is at the No. 4 spot in the list of batsmen scoring most runs in IPL 2018. Only behind Ambati Rayudu, Surya Kumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, Dhoni has scored 360 runs in 10 matches with 3 half centuries against his name.

Moreover, he has scored these runs at a breath-taking average of 90.00 and a Strike rate of 165.89. Even Indian Captain Virat Kohli has failed to catch him up this season.

After Dhoni once again took CSK over the line with 31 not out off 23 balls, Batting Coach Mike Hussey was all praise for Dhoni in the post match press conference.  “Dhoni is such an important player for the team. He’s the captain for one, he’s a fantastic keeper, he’s been in unbelievable form with the bat. It’s probably the best I’ve seen him play for quite a few years.

“He is away from the game as well. We saw the packed house tonight, so many Dhoni fans out there. He’s the key man in our [CSK’s] whole organisation both on and off the field. What I like about him, apart from watching him play in the middle, is the character of the man off the field. He’s very calm and relaxed,” said the Aussie.

In the same breath, Hussey also lauded all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for pulling back things in the match against RCB. Jadeja had failed to leave a mark in the initial matches. He did not have sufficient runs with the bat and he hardly got to bowl proper spells.

From “Will he be in playing XI?” to “Man of the match”. That’s like a bang bang come back Sir Jadeja.

The way Dhoni backs his people. ❤#CSKvRCB @imjadeja pic.twitter.com/Y09RnBP97V

— Akash Jain (@akash207) May 5, 2018

But the game against RCB was a different one. On a slow Pune pitch that had ample help for the slow bolwers, Jadeja not only bowled his full quota of 4 overs but was also very economical. He conceded just 18 runs and also picked up 3 wickets including that of skipper Virat Kohli.

“I think it’s about keeping Jadeja in a positive frame of mind. It’s the nature of T20 cricket. If you look at his role, it is one of the difficult roles to play in T20s.

“With the bat he might come in with a handful of balls left to play and everyone expects him to hit sixes. It’s not easy to come straight out and hit the ball out of the park. With the ball, he hasn’t got doosras and mystery balls. He does what he does, and he does it very well. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. From outside, it’s about keeping him positive and keep backing him,” Hussey said.

Jadeja took a sigh of relief after finally contributing to the team’s success. “Feels so good that after so many days; I bowled a good spell and put up a winning performance for the team. It personally feels good that what I was working on in the nets all these days finally worked well for me in this match,” said the wiry all-rounder.