Fans and pundits talking about MS Dhoni’s hitting after CSK failed to chase a total is nothing new, but what was a bit surprising was the fact that Dhoni’s captaincy also attracted a fair amount of criticism. after CSK’s loss to the Rajasthan Royals.
Former England hitter Kevin Pietersen said he’s “not buying” Dhoni’s justification for hitting No. 7 when CSK was chasing 217 to win.
“It’s not about experiments, about saying ‘oh, it’s early in the tournament.’ Let me tell you, the T20 cricket can bite you very, very quickly. You can end up losing five games on the fly really fast and then you can end up thinking ‘OMG, are we really going to make it to the final?’ I’m not buying this nonsense, ”Pietersen said on a post-game show on Star Sports.
Pietersen’s comments after Dhoni, at the end of RR’s match, said that he would come after a long break and that he wanted to give players like Jadeja and Sam Curran the chance at the beginning of the tournament.
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“We want to try a few different things, like send Sam or Jadeja. That is something that we have not done for a long time and this gives us the opportunity to do it at the beginning of the tournament, “said Dhoni.
“As the tournament progresses, you will see the older players step in and take on that added responsibility.
“Otherwise, we have been a team that has continued to do the same. I feel like we have a chance to try a few different things. if it doesn’t work, we can go back to what is our strength ”, he added.
Pietersen, however, believes the outcome of the game could have been different if Dhoni had hit higher in the order.
“You have to at least give yourself a chance to win the game. When you see how close they were, Du Plessis started going, then MS Dhoni started hitting at the end and then they lost by just 16 runs.
“So we were talking about a period of 4 or 5 more where they were just going around and around and doing silly singles. They could have caught the game there with a bit of intent. They could easily have removed this score. If you need 20 in the last finale, you can win this game, ”Pietersen said.
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