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Former India and KKR batsman Gautam Gambhir criticized MS Dhoni for hitting No. 7 in the Chennai Super Kings game against Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on Tuesday.
- News18.com
- Last update: September 23, 2020 1:43 PM IST
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Despite late fireworks coming from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s bat, the Chennai Super Kings fell within 16 runs of the mammoth 217 goal thrown by Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Dhoni finished 29 of 17, but was 9 of 12 before the final over started, and CSK needed 38. He then hit Tom Curran for three sixes in the final over.
While fans were happy for Dhoni to show intent for a classic MS, the CSK leader pushing him down in the batting order did not sit well with former cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, who criticized the veteran. cricketer for batting at No. 7.
“It doesn’t make sense to me. In fact, you should be leading from the front,” was quoted by Gambhir. ESPNCricinfo. “Yes, you can talk about the last over of MS Dhoni when he hit three sixes, but it did not help, to be honest. It was just personal runs,” he added.
Read also: IPL 2020: Those are just personal races, at least with advantage from the front – Gautam Gambhir criticizes MS Dhoni
Dhoni loyalists were instantly at odds with the pointed comments from Gambhir, who criticized the former cricketer for being “negative” rather than supporting his former teammate and IPL opponent.
Read also: IPL rookie Yashasvi Jaiswal greets CSK’s Dhoni with folded hands is the reason we love cricket
Gautam Gambhir is the Kangana Ranaut of cricket
– Panistha Bhatt (@PanisthaB) September 23, 2020
A bad match for CSK and Dhoni and @GautamGambhir comes out whipping the MSD. As if he was always successful as a captain and a player. It is only the beginning of the tournament, take a seat, enjoy and raise the morale of the young people and do not always go out to satisfy personal grudges https://t.co/oKEs7hJEmI
– Utkarsh 🇮🇳 (@chilllkaro) September 23, 2020
However, a section of social media backed Gambhir for speaking out in his criticism of Dhoni.
Gambhir is absolutely right. We need commentators like him on the IPL who can also criticize big-name Indian players instead of current ones who are tough on foreign players but keep quiet when it comes to players like Dhoni etc. Dhoni’s entries yesterday were horrendous.
– Karan Mittal (@ Kmittal255) September 23, 2020
Correct for ball ….. gambir ka bura hello dikhta h dhobi fans ko ….. rate b krta h jb krni chahiye tb …. chatata nhi h bakiyo ki tarah …
– Suraj Birajdar (@SurajHRx) September 23, 2020
And Gambhir is right, if any other captain had done this, he would receive a lot of criticism. But the last one on me in three sixes kya mare, toh sab galti maaf ho gayi
– KESHAV (@ keshavk789) September 23, 2020
Read also: Dhoni throws six outside Sharjah stadium, ‘Lucky Man’ on the street ‘steals’ the ball
Why was Dhoni so late to hit?
When asked why he came so low in the order, the CSK captain said: “I haven’t hit in a long time. The 14-day quarantine doesn’t help. ”Dhoni’s referral went to CSK’s additional one-week quarantine after 13 people in his contingent tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in the loss of important training sessions.
Returning to last night’s meeting, the Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday accumulated 216/7 on the scoreboard. A ruthless punching from Sanju Samson 74 (32) and a rock solid show put captain Steve Smith 69 (47) ensured it would not be an easy chase for CSK.
CSK got off to a decent start with starters Shane Watson (33) and Murali Vijay (21) winning 50 without losing in the first 6 overs. But Rahul Tewatia (3/37) with his bowling spell slowed down the pursuit of CSK. Faf du Plessis tried to regain momentum, breaking 7 sixes in his entertaining 72 innings (37), but it was too late as the Men in Yellow could only touch the 200 mark in their designated 20 overs.
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