PL 2024, SRH vs. CSK: Shane Watson, a former Australian all-rounder, stated he anticipates the Super Kings to move MS Dhoni up the batting order if there’s a chance for the former captain to complete games.
Dhoni’s historic performance of powerful hits transported the audience down memory lane.
In their highly anticipated IPL 2024 encounter against SRH in Hyderabad on Friday, April 5, former Australia and Chennai all-rounder Shane Watson stated he thinks the Super Kings won’t be reluctant to push MS Dhoni higher up the batting order if an opportunity comes. Watson voiced faith in CSK’s ability to recover from their last encounter loss, stating that they are renowned for their ability to work on things that don’t go their way.
After winning two of their first three games, Chennai is currently ranked in the top four of the IPL 2024 points standings. On March 31, in Visakhapatnam, Delhi easily defeated the Super Kings despite their inability to chase 192 on a strong batting wicket. After failing at the top, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and his opening partner Rachin Ravindra’s Chennai were forced to chase Delhi, who had made their IPL 2024 debut after escaping an MS Dhoni scare.
Even though the Super Kings lost, MS Dhoni made headlines with a brilliant knock, while Ajinkya Rahane also did well. At the asking rate of 72 from 23 balls, Dhoni came into bat in the 17th over, following the likes of youthful Sameer Rizvi and Ravindra Jadeja. With a vintage display of big hitting, Dhoni led fans down memory lane, but it was insufficient as the Super Kings lost by 20 runs to Delhi’s total.
For his 17-ball 36 not out, Dhoni blasted three sixes and four boundaries, but it was too late for the Super Kings. In that unsuccessful chase, Dhoni batted at No. 8, and Watson anticipates the Super Kings won’t make the same errorthey find themselves in a similar predicament in the upcoming games.
“CSK will capitalize on the things that went exceptionally well and learn from the small things that went wrong against Delhi in their most recent game. One thing was that Dhoni batted as well as I’ve seen him bat for a long time, even though he entered the game late. This should suggest that, ideally, he’ll go up the order when an opportunity arises.” Shane Watson
“The lessons CSK learnt are what have allowed them to be so successful for so long; they will identify the small areas in which they need to improve, execute more skillfully, and identify their mistakes and learn from them. Thus, they’ll be prepared to face Hyderabad,” he continued.
Chennai has a strong 14-5 record versus the SunRisers in their head-to-head matchup, but the five-time winners will have a difficult task ahead of them as they want to bounce back from their Ahmedabad loss to Gujarat.
But after smashing the IPL record for highest total last week against Mumbai with 277, SunRisers will be eager to leave their imprint at home.