He’s done this so often that we kind of underplay the brilliance of his innings, but MS Dhoni just reminded us all why he is widely considered to be the greatest finisher in the history of the game.
Dhoni’s brilliant 70 won finished the game off for CSK, as the legend wrote another chapter in his ever growing book.
This is what Dhoni said at the post match presentation,
“I thought when we had the innings break this was difficult to chase because when I was keeping, I felt AB batted well to get them to 200 runs and it was tough to score. I thought it was 15-20 beyond par score. The key for us was the two left-handers but we lost them early. Just had to hang around there.
“This is a small ground, ball travels and there was just a bit of dew and it worked in our favour. Rayudu batted really well. Got a very good partnership and then Bravo striking at the end, overall it went perfectly according to the script. Not exactly as we had planned, but still the script was good.
“This was a slightly slowish wicket and that’s why AB’s knock was special. It wasn’t an easy wicket, it was not a wicket where you could bat like that credit to him. Happy that people are chipping in for us and we are chasing down big totals and at the same time it is a good exposure for some of our death bowlers.”
“Shardul will get better. The more he is under the pump, the better he will get as the tournament progresses. It’s important to know what the overs that are left and who will bowl the death overs, who is their best bowler on that particular wicket and who you can take on.
“You may win or lose, but it’s about getting the process right. Not everybody knows what kind of a game is theirs and what really is their strength. I feel that’s what the job of finisher is. You will score runs with the experience you have got, but if you can help the other batsman with what to play, run quicker between the wickets, tell what the bowler could do with his batting style etc.
“All these things really matter. It’s not just about me batting at the death. Sharing the experience with the youngsters or whoever is batting and helping them getting the score is key, because tomorrow I may not be batting with him or I may get out, he needs to do the job. Rayudu’s batting is very important for us, he keeps the scoreboard moving.”
