IPL 2021: He Will Take Some Solace That He Is Getting Bat On Ball - Brian Lara On MS Dhoni

Former West Indian cricketer Brian Lara stated that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper, MS Dhoni, wanted to find some form before entering the playoffs. Dhoni had a terrible outing with the bat against Delhi Capitals, where he walked in ahead of Ravindra Jadeja again and played a painful knock of 18 off 27 balls.

It was Dhoni’s slowest knock in IPL history, where he has faced a minimum of 25 balls. CSK needed to accelerate in the middle overs, and the former Indian skipper couldn’t deal with the pacy deliveries from Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada.

There was no real intent in Dhoni’s batting, and Brian Lara suggested he was a bit slow and couldn’t deal with the pace. CSK eventually ended on 136/5, which was not enough against the DC side, who won the match in the last over courtesy of Shimron Hetmyer’s 18-ball 28.

“MS Dhoni is trying to get some form. He is still a little bit slow, still not fully into the stride. Not the Dhoni that we know. He will take some solace that he is getting the bat on the ball. He did not finish things off,” Lara said.

“My feeling is that Jadeja should come ahead” – Brian Lara

Lara reckoned that Ravindra Jadeja should definitely walk in to bat at No. 5 or 6 since he has been in terrific batting form this year. Jadeja is also the finisher for the national side, so the more time he spends in the middle, the better it will be for Team India in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“My feeling is that Jadeja should, at some point, come a little ahead because he is in good form and key to their batting. We all know how great a finisher MS Dhoni is, and he knows the team is already in the semis (play-offs). The thing is, MS Dhoni in form is a great asset for CSK,” Lara added.

DC won the match by three wickets and is in a prime position to finish at the top of the table. As for CSK needs to win their final game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) to ensure they finish in the top two.

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