Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the ‘batting template’ for Chennai Super Kings’ death bowling, their bowling consultant Eric Simmons has revealed, saying the strategies that work against him in training often work in matches too Plays a good role. Dhoni came out of the last four balls of CSK’s innings and hit six runs in the first three balls to help the team beat Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Sunday night Scored 26 points in the final over. (IPL 2024 Points Table)

His late blitz proved to be the difference as CSK moved 20 points clear of MI and third in the IPL standings.

“They were looking at limiting us to under 200 and then all of a sudden they were faced with 206. Every time, we lived close to him and he continued to surprise us. Go out and hit first Balls, like six, and went on his way.

“But he batted really well in the nets… It was just another unbelievable moment from MS Dhoni,” the South African added.

Former India bowling coach Simmons said Dhoni as a batsman has been the template for CSK to test their bowling skills in the death overs.

“His composure at the wicket… When we did death bowling in pre-season, we used him as a batting template because he was so good at it. If we could test our theory against him , then we know we’re going to do well,” he said.

Simmons admitted that Dhoni had been battling a knee injury but he fought it bravely without showing any pain.

“Everyone else was more interested in his injuries than he was. He was one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met. I don’t even think we knew the extent of the pain he might or might not have had. He just kept going. And do his thing,” he said.

“I’m sure there are some hiccups. He just has the ability to ignore what it is and do what needs to be done. We are more concerned about his injury. When I say we, I mean the public is more concerned about his injury.” Simon Si added that he was more concerned about his injuries than himself.

Simmons said that while Matheesha Pathirana (4/28) deserved the honors for CSK’s victory, Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur were the “unsung heroes”.

“Shardul had one of the best overs I’ve ever seen. We’re talking about execution and you go and look at where he batted in that game and he got two runs. It was outstanding,” He said.

“Matisha will get a lot of credit and he deserves it because of the way he bowled and the breaks he made. But these two gentlemen did a very good job for us in the middle order and pushed the ratio to the capabilities of Mumbai Indians Out of range,” Simmons said.

However, Simmons called for the broad rules to be further defined because he claimed the current law is not specific enough.

“If they give us broad rules and the right understanding, we can organize our rotations tactically. This is not a criticism of the referee, but because it is an interpretation, it makes things difficult. If we look at it in black and white Knowing what it is and how it works, we can use broad rules smartly,” he said.

“For example, if the batsman is away from leg stump then it doesn’t matter where he goes, if we have the heel as a target and he wants to get into stump, that’s his problem. He’s already moved and we can be very clever Use wide lines to make the game more even,” he added.

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