What was turning out to be a contest between the two worst teams of IPL 2022 took a magical turn as MS Dhoni brought his Midas Touch into the run chase that saw Chennai Super Kings through with a heist in the final over. Even as debates rage on about MS Dhoni’s batting at the age of 41, he keeps turning the clock back. Here we ask a few burning questions from the game.
At what point do we really worry about Rohit Sharma?
Rohit Sharma fell for a two-ball duck, chipping a shot straight to mid-on off Mukesh Choudhary against CSK. With that dismissal, Rohit now averages 16.3 with the bat in the season, the worst after Ruturaj Gaikwad for anyone to face as many balls as him in the season. While Gaikwad is coming off the back of a spectacular IPL season last year where he won the Orange Cap, Rohit’s issues are long-standing.
The last time he averaged more than 30 in an IPL season was way back in 2016. Since then, in the IPL, Rohit averages 25.7 with the bat while striking at a rate of 127.5. That is well below ordinary standards for a top-class opener like him playing for a champion side. While Mumbai winning tournaments masked Rohit’s issues, the failures are prominent this season with Mumbai having lost each of their first seven matches.
Are left-arm quicks in the powerplay becoming a mainstream strategy in the IPL?
Left-arm quicks bowling full and into the pads of right-handers has been a successful ploy in the IPL and T20 tournaments around the globe. It’s fast gaining approval in the IPL this year with all teams except Kolkata Knight Riders bowling at least one over of left-arm pace in the powerplay. Chennai Super Kings stuck with rookie Mukesh Choudhary despite his mediocre returns and last night bowled all his three overs (3/19 in the spell) inside the powerplay.
Arshdeep Singh for Punjab Kings, T Natarajan and Marco Jansen for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Khaleel Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman for Delhi Capitals, Tymal Mills, Daniel Sams and Jaydev Unadkat for Mumbai Indians, Yash Dayal for Gujarat Titans, Mohsin Khan for Lucknow Super Giants, Trent Boult and Obed McCoy for Rajasthan Royals and David Willey for RCB are the other left-arm quicks to feature in the powerplay this year.
Why Kieron Pollard should have resisted falling into MS Dhoni’s well-laid bait
Kieron Pollard holed out to a very straight long-on against CSK off Maheesh Theekshana’s bowling right after a fielder was moved to that position. “I think he’s played to Pollard’s arrogance here”, Harsha Bhogle said on commentary. “Pollard said ‘I don’t care whether the fielder’s there, I am going to clear him. You keep a fielder there, I’ll hit it right over his head.”
There’s a reason for the comment. Pollard was dismissed to a fielder placed at the exact same position by MS Dhoni in the 2010 and 2017 IPL finals. Right before this ball was bowled on Thursday, Dhoni moved the tallest fielder in the CSK line-up, Shivam Dube, to that very same position. Pollard wasn’t going to let it deter his plans and looked to hoick a back-of-a-length delivery over that very same fielder, only to not get the desired elevation and hole out.
Bhogle was right when he said Dhoni played to Pollard’s arrogance. At 111/5, with the pair of Tilak Varma and Pollard being the last recognised pair, the senior batter should have waited for the CSK death bowlers rather than going after Theekshana, whose variations can be tricky. It left Mumbai’s rookie Tilak alone to marshal the lower order and get to a good total.
Why Tilak Varma could be MI’s own version of Suresh Raina
After seven matches in the tournament, Tilak Varma is the sixth-highest run-scorer in the season with 234 runs at an average of 46.8. No Mumbai Indians batter has recorded more runs than the 19-year-old playing his debut season. The impressive left-hander has stood out with his intent in the middle overs. His 163 runs in the middle overs have come at an average of 40.75 and a strike rate of 141.74.
What makes Tilak very similar to Raina is his incredible skill against spin. Among players to face 50 balls of spin this season, no one has a better average than Tilak (118.0) and only two have a better strike-rate than his 153.25. His strike rate drops to 125.3 against pace, but the situations he has batted in have also played a part in that scoring rate going down. With an average of more than 30, Tilak has shown he can see them through and pick his battles wisely.
How good is MS Dhoni still at this age in the death overs?
MS Dhoni is 41, and his finishing skills are no longer as good as they once used to be. But even this version of MS Dhoni can win games on his own, and last night was evidence of that. In the final over, with 16 needed off four balls, Dhoni slammed 6, 4, 2, and 4 to win the match for Chennai Super Kings. The fact that Dhoni chased these down despite Unadkat getting at least two of the four balls near the blockhole shows how good he still is.
This is reflected in the numbers too. This year, Shimron Hetmyer has hogged headlines with his incredible finishing skills and six-hitting in the death overs. However, in the last three overs, Dhoni has had a better strike-rate than Hetmyer this year. In 29 balls, Dhoni has smashed 74 runs at a strike-rate of 255.17, the best for any batter to face 25 balls in the last three overs. In the last two overs, it further shoots up to 289.47.
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