Dhoni: Bowling Tweaks vs LSG to Ease Ashwin’s Load

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stand-in captain MS Dhoni acknowledged that while there’s still room for improvement in their batting, he was pleased with the team’s bowling performance. The five-time champions ended their five-match losing streak against the Lucknow Super Giants on a slow pitch at the BRSABV Ekana Stadium on Monday. CSK made notable changes to their lineup, giving Shaik Rasheed a chance at the top and bringing in Jamie Overton to replace R Ashwin.

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Ashwin has struggled to make an impact this IPL season, as CSK has used the experienced off-spinner in the powerplay, where players like Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine, and KL Rahul have been able to score off him.  With an economy rate of 9.90 and just five wickets in six matches, Dhoni pointed out that the team had been over-relying on Ashwin, particularly in the first six overs. “We made some adjustments to improve our performance in the first six overs, as we needed more bowlers during that phase,” Dhoni explained in the post-match presentation.

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Dhoni: Wanted More Pace Options, Reduce Ashwin’s Burden in Powerplay

 “We were putting too much pressure on Ashwin, who bowled two overs on wickets that weren’t offering much assistance. while the batsmen were freely expressing themselves.” Dhoni also highlighted that the inclusion of Anshul Kamboj and Overton gave him more pace options for the powerplay. He mentioned that even if the fast bowlers were conceding runs, Noor Ahmad could bowl one over to control the flow of runs. “We made changes to have more bowlers available for the first six overs, and if the fast bowlers are underperforming, we can rely on Noor [Ahmad] for a single over.

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This gives us more flexibility as a bowling unit. Overall, I think we did well as a bowling side, but as a batting unit, we still have room for improvement. Chasing 168, CSK got off to a smashing start with Rasheed and Rachin Ravindra firing at the top of the order but underwent a mini-collapse in the middle order that saw the visitors go from 74/1 to 94/4 in a span of a little over four overs but Shivam Dube and Dhoni’s unbeaten 26 off 11 helped CSK get over the line and stay in the hunt.