PBKS vs CSK: In preparation to control Dhoni's sixes, Punjab banned Chennai Express like this

MS Dhoni IPL 2024 CSK vs PBKS: Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to bat in the 18th over of the 49th match of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In this match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings, ‘Thala’ entered the field after the dismissal of Ruturaj Gaikwad. Like always, the enthusiasm of the spectators present in the stadium increased after seeing him. In this match, Dhoni scored 14 runs in 11 balls and was run out on the last ball. He has been out for the first time in this IPL season.

Punjab’s game to control Dhoni’s sixes!

When Dhoni came to bat, the last 13 balls of the innings were left. But Punjab bowlers did not give him a chance to bat explosively. Rahul Chahar came to bowl against Dhoni in the 19th over. Dhoni played a total of 4 balls in Chahar’s over but could score only 2 runs. Dhoni looked quite helpless in this over of Chahar. Not a single ball came in his slot.

After this Dhoni himself bowled the last over of the innings. Arshdeep Singh came to bowl in this over. A total of 13 runs including extra runs came in this over. Dhoni hit a four on the first ball of the over. But his next 3 balls went blank. Dhoni hit a six on the fifth ball, which was his first six in Chepauk this year. Dhoni tried to take two runs on the last ball but was out. Only one run added on the scoreboard.

Generally Dhoni is not able to play against leg spin. We can understand this from a figure. In T20 matches, he has been able to score only 699 runs against leg spinners, in which he has been out 22 times. During this period he has hit 33 fours and 32 sixes. Dhoni’s strike rate against leg spinners is 106.55 and average is 31.77.

Chennai Super Kings’ vicious strategy

However, Chennai’s strategy in this match was also a struggle. As soon as the first wicket (of Ajinkya Rahane) fell, the team’s finisher Shivam Dubey came in the ninth over and was out without opening the account on the very first ball. Then in the 10th over, Sameer Rizvi was fielded as an ‘impact player’. This arrow of Chennai Tarkhat also could not do anything special. Sameer, who plays domestic cricket for the UP team and is a resident of Meerut, played an inning of 21 runs on 23 balls. The thing to note here is that when Sameer Rizvi came, a batsman like Moeen Ali was present in the dugout.