Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni rolled back the years as he smashed Siddharth Kaul for six to ensure his side’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match in Sharjah on Thursday (September 30). Dhoni’s knock ensured that CSK also returned to the IPL playoffs for the 11th time in their history after missing out for the first time last years.
Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen couldn’t stop raving about the genius of Dhoni after his return to form. Former India captain Gavaskar said that Dhoni takes the game to the final over and when the supporters are biting their nails, he finishes things off.
“He (Dhoni) does it so often. He takes it into the last over. When the supporters are biting the nail – they also know he is going to do it. But that anxiety, that you feel. He has done it so many times in his career,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
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Former England captain Pietersen reckons that Dhoni keeps doing the job over and over again, and the way the 40-year-old finished the match against SRH would strike fear in the minds of the opposition.
“Dhoni has done it for so many years, he keeps doing it and doing it and doing it. What he has done now, should strike fear into the opposition. He has not been in the form for two seasons, so if he starts doing that now here, then, goodness, they got one hand on the trophy, they really do. They are serious out, on these conditions they are really good,” said Pietersen.
Pietersen added that the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood, Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been extremely good for CSK this season, and if Dhoni can finish games off in style, then the opposition will surely have a problem.
“They got the Hazlewood effect, and the Jadeja effect, and the openers have been really good. So, if Dhoni starts coming off now, finishes games off, then other teams have a problem. Scary proposition,” Pietersen added.
