CSK would be eyeing to salvage some pride by defeating KKR on 7th May at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. CSK skipper MS Dhoni (*163 runs in 11 innings) & side have received brutal criticism from fans and experts for their underwhelming performance. CSK have lost 9 matches out of 11 and are at 10th position in the points table. Under MS Dhoni‘s leadership, CSK has won 1 match out of 6 which has made headlines.
KKR on the other side as got a serious chance of qualifying for the playoffs. With 11 points from 11 matches, and if they can win all 3 of their remaining matches then they can give a tough competition to the rest of the teams. The way KKR defeated RR by 1 run, it speaks volumes of Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy and the side’s never-say-die attitude.
MS Dhoni knows his situation very well- Eric Simons
Eric Simons was having an interaction with the media a day before the match. Eric Simons pointed out that MS Dhoni is all set to play against KKR and made it very clear that CSK skipper knows the match importance and ruled out that speculations of him being missing match due to niggle after skipping practice session.
“Yes, he’s expected to play tomorrow. With regards to MS, he knows his situation very well. He knows where he is. In terms of his preparations, he always works very hard at the beginning of a tournament and then allows himself to taper off because he gets himself in a space where he’s ready. So no issues, he just knows when he is prepared and when he’s not,”
MS Dhoni’s ability to nurture Ruturaj Gaikwad is legendary- Eric Simons
Eric Simmons made a massive revelation that MS Dhoni plays a humongous role in mentoring youngsters. CSK’s bowling coach said that MS Dhoni’s influence is always on the team. Simons said that the forced captaincy change from Ruturaj Gaikwad to MS Dhoni was done by mutual understanding between two players.
“You see MS Dhoni as the cricketer, we always see MS Dhoni as the man who is a remarkable individual. His influence on the team, his ability to nurture Rutu, to nurture young cricketers is what’s legendary about him. His influence is always there,” said Eric Simmons.
“Sure, he now makes the final decisions on movements of fields but his influence — whether he was captain or not — was always there without imposing. He doesn’t impose himself on anybody. He was always an influence, so it was a very smooth transition because of the closeness of his relation with Rutu,” he added.
CSK in deep trouble
CSK in the previous league fixture of KKR, they were humbled by the side very badly. It looks like the side lacks a bit of team bonding and unity. their performance against RCB was quite good, but in the last 5 overs, while having ball & bat in hand, they couldn’t win key moments of the game. The way CSK got outplayed against RCB, and that too by losing the match by 2 runs, was quite shocking given MS Dhoni & Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t take the team over the finish line.
CSK undoubtedly has shown promise, though the rise of young prodigy Ayush Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed shows that the future is bright. Ayush Mhatre’s 94-run knock against RCB was the biggest positive,a long with Ravindra Jadeja’s composed knock of 77 runs. The results aren’t showing for CSK, but they would be very happy to spoil the party of KK,R and not to forget the aura and charisma of MS Dhoni at Eden Gardens will enlighten the match and fans.
Also Read: KKR vs CSK: Can KKR Secure Playoff Hopes Against CSK’s Resilience?