Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina stated that the mere presence of MS Dhoni unsettles any opposition and makes them feel the pressure. He further added that it is merely impossible to fill the boots of the wicket-keeper batsman whenever he is not part of the Playing XI. Despite being at the twilight of his career, MS Dhoni has been quite sensational in the ongoing IPL and will be one of the most important players for India in the 2019 World Cup.
MS Dhoni had to miss a couple of games in the tournament owing to a back injury and fever. He missed the matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians and on both occasions, Chennai Super Kings finished on the losing side. He made a return of the playing XI yesterday against the Delhi Capitals. He smashed an unbeaten 44 of 22 deliveries which were instrumental in helping Chennai Super Kings coast to a comfortable 80 runs victory in the end.
Suresh Raina further added that losing MS Dhoni as a skipper is not an issue. The main area of concern is his batting as Chennai Super Kings witnessed during the matches against Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
“I think losing him (Dhoni) as a captain is not an issue, losing him as a batsman is always difficult for us. That’s what happened for us against Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. When he comes to the crease a lot of pressure is created for other teams. When he is not in the team, we see the difference,” Suresh Raina said.
Suresh Raina gave an indication that he is willing to take up the captaincy of CSK as and when MS Dhoni decides to call it quits. MS Dhoni has made a huge difference for CSK in the tournament so far and has been the leading run scorer in the tournament. His absence in a couple of matches proved the aura and presence of MS Dhoni.
“He has done well in the last couple of years as a batsman as well team mentor. So probably you may see me more next year when he is done but I need more of his calibre. But he will continue as long as he wants to play for Chennai, you know him and Chennai,” he said.
Meanwhile, Suresh Raina also heaped praise on the glovework of MS Dhoni after the CSK skipper affected two important stumpings during the match against the Delhi Capitals.
“He (Dhoni) had two brilliant stumpings. One is Shreyas (Iyer) and the other is (Chris) Morris. It shows how compact he is. In the last couple of years when he was playing for India also, he has done amazing stumpings that shows how involved he is in the game,” Raina said.
Meanwhile, Suresh Raina further added that it is very important to play smart cricket in Chennai. “It is important to play very, very smart cricket in Chennai. The game starts after the sixth over here. In the powerplay, if you see the last two games which we won against Hyderabad and against Delhi here, you can see that we hadn’t done well in the first three overs,” he said.
“Watto (Shane Watson) and Faf (du Plessis) played very carefully against (Trent) Boult and (Chris) Morris. It is important to have wickets in Chennai because later when you have hitters like MS (Dhoni), (Ambati) Rayudu and Jadeja, you can score extra 30-40 runs.”
Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings registered a comprehensive victory by 80 runs against the Delhi Capitals which propelled them back to the top of the points table. They have currently played 13 matches and have won 9. Delhi Capitals despite playing some good cricket in the tournament lost their way against CSK and was thrashed by the yellow brigade by 80 runs.