‘Sometimes you don’t want to take early wickets’ – Dhoni on Russell’s impact in IPL
MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper, stated that at times, picking early wickets may not help a team. The 39-year-old’s comments came after CSK’s 18-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday, April 21, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After KKR lost five wickets in the powerplay with their score at 31, the Yellow Army looked firm favourites to win.
However, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins, instead of giving up the ghost, came out firing on all cylinders. The trio found the boundary with utmost ease and nearly brought the Knights out of jail. Among them, Cummins stayed unbeaten, but couldn’t take his team over the line.
Keeping in mind the threat Russell possesses, Dhoni said that letting the big hitters in early may not work out well for bowling units. The veteran said that Ravindra Jadeja had a chance of getting the Jamaican out due to a bit of turn on offer from the surface.
I always like to be humble: MS Dhoni
“Quite easy in a game like this. From the 16th over onwards, the contest was between the fast bowler and the batsman. You can’t do too much. Can’t put a different field. It’s about you vs me. The side that has won is a side that has executed slightly better,” Dhoni said after the game.
“You don’t want to take too many early wickets. Big hitters coming in, 200 runs, there’s only one way they’ll play. There’s not much you can do. The only option was Jadeja. It was turning, it was a bit dry. If 20 overs had been completed, it would have been more closer,” he stated.
“Have seen enough in cricket, I always like to be humble. There’s no good reason if you have scored; the opposition can’t score. My lines to the players were that we have got good runs on the board but let’s be humble,” Dhoni added.
Russell smashed 54 runs off 22 balls with the help of three fours and six sixes. He, along with Karthik, was involved in a partnership of 81 runs for the sixth wicket. It was Sam Curran, who clean bowled Russell down the legs, giving CSK a sigh of relief.
