"Thought MS Dhoni Was Desperate": Ex-India Star On CSK Captain's Tactics During IPL 2023 Qualifier 1 vs Gujarat Titans

Former Indian cricket team batter Sanjay Manjrekar felt that Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni was a bit desperate during his team's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoff match against Gujarat Titans and it was clear from the episode involving Matheesha Pathirana. During the 16th over of the GT innings, the umpire did not allow Pathirana to bowl as he was not eligible for leaving the field. However, Dhoni had a prolonged chat with the umpires and almost four minutes were wasted due to the conversations and the resultant confusion. That allowed the stipulated time to be completed for the young Sri Lankan pacer to bowl the over and many experts believes that it was a deliberate plan from CSK and Dhoni.

“We don't know exactly what happened. He was away for nine minutes, and (we don't know) whether the time when they had conversation was counted or not. On the field, time is also counted when the game is actually played. Maybe, MS thought that it would work in his favour,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfoin the aftermath of CSK's victory over GT.

“I felt today, MS was desperate. He knew that the way Rashid Khan was playing, he had to give the ball to someone who he could believe in. It could be tactical,” the former India cricketer added.

After Chennai Super Kings bowlers bundled out the batting lineup of the Gujarat Titans, CSK entered the final defeating GT by 15 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

CSK bowlers collectively weakened the GT's batting unit. Spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers, he dismissed two batters by conceding only 18 runs. Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana and Deepak Chahar took two wickets each.

(With PTI inputs)