“Dropped catches at the crucial point”: MS Dhoni dissects loss vs Mumbai Indians after Kieron Pollard career-best IPL knock

MS Dhoni dissects loss: The captain of Chennai Super Kings wasn’t too severe with his words after a match which they should’ve won.

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opined that a high-scoring thriller which was decided on the last ball against defending champions Mumbai Indians could’ve won if Lungi Ngidi had conceded a boundary or two less in the last over.

Needing 16 runs to win in the 20th over, Indians vice-captain Kieron Pollard hit two fours and a six before running a couple of runs on the last ball to power his team to their first-ever 200+ run chase in the IPL.

Incredible stuff Skipper, hats off to you KP! 🙌🏽

— Shai Hope (@shaidhope) May 1, 2021

“Even if you don’t get hit for one or two sixes in the 20th over that can win you the game. It hurts but the spirits will be up. When you’re under the pump, you learn more. Irrespective of where we are on the points table, we look at one game at a time. Ultimately, if you do that, the points table will take care of itself,” Dhoni told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.

MS Dhoni dissects loss against Mumbai Indians

Being asked to bat first by MI captain Rohit Sharma, Super Kings had put on board a formidable 219/4 in 20 overs on the back of Ambati Rayudu’s hard-hitting 72* (27) comprising of four fours and seven sixes at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Despite losing their second match this season, Chennai have retained their top position on the points table. Mumbai, on the other hand, are at the fourth position after winning four and three matches at the halfway stage of the league phase.

Dhoni, 39, didn’t give the impression of finding too many faults with his bowling unit. Highlighting the pitch, Dhoni gave hints of expecting the opposition to register a “close match” but did point out them dropping catches at crucial junctures especially opening batsman Faf du Plessis erring to give Pollard a reprieve in the 18th over.

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“I think it was a brilliant wicket and I feel the difference between the two sides was the execution – how off we were. Without being too tough for the bowlers, catches do help. I felt we dropped catches at the crucial point.

“It doesn’t hurt much when you’re on the top of the table. If you look at how it really went, we were very off-target and against good batters who hit hard, it’s important to execute the plans,” Dhoni added.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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