Dhoni emphasises on holistic improvement in all departments after last night’s pummeling at the hands of KKR.
Dhoni emphasises on his side to focus on improving on a number of areas after last night’s chastening loss at the hands of KKR.
In a chase of 104, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated CSK by eight wickets with about ten overs remaining.
“I think it’s quite a few nights haven’t gone our way,” Dhoni told the broadcaster after the loss. “What’s important is to look deep down inside. I feel the challenge was there. But it’s important to accept that challenge, figure out ways how you’ll tackle the difficult deliveries, and then look to get runs on the board. Today, I felt we didn’t really have enough runs on the board.”
Not nearly enough. After being put to bat by KKR, CSK only managed to score 103, which was their lowest total ever at Chepauk. CSK had been chasing in all five of their previous games before to Friday’s match, and Dhoni had even declared that he wanted to bat first after losing the toss. However, CSK’s fortunes remained unchanged despite a shift in thinking.
The fastball proved difficult to bat on in the first inning. When given the second over, offspinner Moeen Ali found turn right away after KKR seamer Vaibhav Arora swung the new ball away from left-hand openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway. Additionally, there was some misdirected shots since the ball halted somewhat in the pitch.
“Yes, it did [stop] but it has been the case over here,” Dhoni said about the surface. “Whenever we bowled first, even in the second innings, it stopped a bit. But today in the first innings also it was stopping. But also, if you lose too many wickets, it looks very different because it puts pressure on the batsman who is going in, and with quality spinners it becomes slightly difficult. And we never really got any kind of partnerships going. So that also makes it tough. I feel overall a bit more partnerships, a bit more runs, a bit more application, and we’ll be on track.”
Additionally, it marks the first time in a single IPL season that CSK has suffered three straight home losses. With 59 balls remaining in the KKR chase, they broke the previous record set by the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeating CSK with 46 balls remaining in 2020, and the loss to KKR sent them to a new low. It was also their largest losing margin in the IPL. They are ranked ninth, barely above Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), with a little higher net run-rate, therefore they are not at the bottom of the points table.