Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh who played earlier for CSK heaped praise on Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, saying that it is always a challenge to face his team and that his focus will be on winning the IPL 2021 title.
Harbhajan Singh: It Is Always A Challenge To Play Against CSK For They Often Field An Experienced Team, So KKR Have To Play Like Champions
Harbhajan Singh explained why is difficult to battle against MS Dhoni’s team CSK for they have several experienced campaigners in their squad like Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, and Suresh Raina to mention a few.
“It is always a challenge to face MS Dhoni’s team because he often has a very good squad by his side. As CSK often takes the field with a number of experienced players, it is always a closely fought battle against them. If KKR want to beat the likes of CSK and MI, then we will have to play like champions,” Harbhajan Singh quipped while speaking on the SportTak YouTube channel.
MS Dhoni, following the culmination of the ongoing IPL season, will stay back with Team India for the T20 World Cup as he will serve his time there as the mentor. Harbhajan Singh believes that CSK skipper MS Dhoni will not be in his mentor role yet and would want to finish his career on a high should he decides to hang up his boots at the end of this season.
“I do not feel that MS Dhoni will be in his mentor role at the moment. He is currently in the captain’s role and I believe his complete focus will be on winning the championship for his team. It is uncertain if he will play next season, hence he will want to finish on a high note.”
KKR lost the 1st match between the two teams in the 1st half of IPL 2021 in India as openers Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 64 and Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten 95 to propel CSK to 220/3. KKR fought valiantly but couldn’t quite recover from the start as they were 31/5 at one stage. Despite Dinesh Karthik‘s 40, Andre Russell’s 54, and Pat Cummins’ unbeaten 66, KKR could score 202 and lost by 18 runs.
Harbhajan Singh played 3 IPL games for his new franchise KKR but went wicketless. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni’s CSK got off to an excellent start in the second phase-the UAE leg of IPL 14.
CSK And KKR Register Wins In The First 2 Games Since IPL 2021 Resumption At UAE
Chennai Super Kings defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians by 20 runs after finding themselves reeling at 24/4 after 6 overs in the first innings. It was opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s rescue act that got CSK’s innings back on track. He smashed an unbeaten 88 to guide the “Yellow Army” to 156/6 in 20 overs. In response, Kieron Pollard-led MI could only manage 136/8 in their 20 overs and so lost the 30th match of IPL 2021.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell (3/9) and leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy (3/13) bowled brilliantly to fold up RCB’s innings at 92 in 19 overs in match 31 of IPL 2021. KKR openers Shubman Gill (48) and debutant Venkatesh Iyer (41*) then steered the chase within 10 overs with excellent shots.
Shubman Gill was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal when KKR was only 10 runs away from the win. KKR’s victory helped them to climb to the fifth spot in the IPL 2021 points table from seventh with a net run rate of +0.110.