Virender Sehwag, a former cricketer from India, shared his thoughts on the challenges players face when it comes to chasing big scores, especially after watching the Chennai Super Kings struggle in their recent games. Chennai has now lost two matches in a row, and their inability to chase down 183 runs left them in a tough spot. Sehwag didn’t hold back when analyzing MS Dhoni’s role in such high-pressure situations. He pointed out that it’s been a while since Dhoni has been able to pull off a winning finish in a game, and that’s concerning for fans.
He mentioned how tough it really is to score a lot of runs in a short amount of time, regardless of how skilled a player might be. Sehwag recalled a couple of dazzling moments from Dhoni’s past, where he managed to score about 24 or 25 runs off Axar Patel in one game and also went after Irfan Pathan for around 20 runs in another. But beyond those, he noted that there haven’t been many recent games that come to mind where Dhoni has managed to lead the team to victory in such fashion. In fact, he pointed out that for the last five years, Chennai has struggled to chase anything over 180 runs.
Shane Watson, who used to play for Australia, also expressed confusion over some of Chennai’s game strategies after their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was surprised that Dhoni has been batting lower in the order, especially given the team’s recent performance. Following a hefty 50-run defeat against Bengaluru while trying to chase a target of 197 runs, Watson suggested that Ruturaj Gaikwad, the team captain, should have been at the top of the order instead.
After their game against Rajasthan, which ended in another tough loss, Gaikwad faced questions about batting order and made it clear that the decision to have Rachin Ravindra and Rahul Tripathi open the innings was made during the auction. He explained his spot at No. 3 was part of that overall strategy. It seems like there’s a lot for the team to figure out as they try to turn their season around and get back on track.