Jaddu Is Someone Who Can Change A Game On His Own: MS Dhoni
Published - 25 Apr 2021, 10:01 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:44 AM
MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings inflicted a heavy loss on the Royal Challengers Bangalore and their first in IPL 2021 to cruise to their fourth straight win. Ravindra Jadeja starred with both bat and ball, putting on one of the greatest performances in history, with the opposition having no answers to it. MS Dhoni predictably heaped praises on Ravindra Jadeja, terming him as a game-changer and hailed the players for performing under pressure after a lean IPL 2020.
Faf Du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad began well for the Chennai Super Kings after MS Dhoni elected to bat first, stitching a 74-run stand. Suresh Rana played an 18-ball 24 cameo after Gaikwad’s departure, as did Ambati Rayudu, who hit 14 in the seven balls he faced. But Ravindra Jadeja stole the spotlight from Faf Du Plessis’ credible fifty and hammered 37 runs off the 20th over, bowled by Harshal Patel.
Ravindra Jadeja pounced on Harshal Patel, who repeatedly kept missing his length, including bowling a no-ball as well that went for a six. In all, the southpaw clubbed five sixes in the over, reaching a 25-ball fifty and finishing with 62 off 28 deliveries. Patel, the purple cap holder, had conceded 51 runs that looked deflated despite picking three wickets.
Though the Royal Challengers Bangalore started their chase positively, they kept losing wickets regularly. After his pyrotechnics with the bat, Jadeja’s left-arm spin made the opposition crumble as he dismissed Washington Sundar, Glenn Maxwell, and AB de Villiers. As usual, the 32-year old was difficult to keep out of the field as his direct hit at the striker’s end ended Daniel Christian’s stay. Virat Kohli’s men could not recover from Jadeja’s bowling figures of 4-0-13-3 and managed 119, losing by 69 runs.
Once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder: MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni recognized a significant change in Ravindra Jadeja’s batting in the last few years, capable of changing the game on his own that provoked him to promote the all-rpunder up the order. The 39-year old conceded that the spinners have already found it challenging to bowl to the left-handers and spinners had it easy due to the extra runs Jadeja got. Though the keeper-batsman accepted that dew has been a factor at the Wankhede Stadium, the CSK captain believes that they need to assess every game. MS Dhoni underlined that they kept following the process, which has given a world of confidence to the players and credited them for bouncing back after undergoing a lean IPL 2020.
“Jaddu is somebody who can change the game on his own. In the last few years we’ve seen significant change in batting and it’s worth it to give him that extra bit of time, extra deliveries. The bowlers have found it difficult to contain left-handers, and that helps as well. You can’t really predict the quantum of victory. There’s no control to how many runs or wickets. When we started we had the conversation about whether to bat or bowl. It’s a good wicket but I felt the spinners had something up their sleeves and I felt that extra few runs Jadeja made helped. 165 would have been par, and once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder. You cannot make your strategy on the assumption of what dew will do – frankly, some games have been high scoring, some have been low scoring. You have to assess every game and today we made the right decision to bat. We’re not doing anything drastically different from what we did last year. Me and Fleming, we keep saying that we focus on the process. You gain more respect if you keep following your path when you’re under pressure. I think that is something that gave a lot of confidence to the players. Credit to the players. Everybody would have felt the pressure in the first game because it was a lean season,” Dhoni told in the post-match presentation.
Also Read: IPL 2021: Watch: MS Dhoni Gives A Top Advice To Ravindra Jadeja To Dismiss Glenn Maxwell
