Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, reckons the move to appoint MS Dhoni as a mentor for the T20 World Cup is among the greatest decisions made in Indian cricket.
MS Dhoni was in his element as captain, leading from the front as the table-toppers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in Match 35 of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) in Sharjah on Friday.
MS Dhoni had retired from international cricket on 15th August 2020 and is the only captain to win all 3 ICC trophies- T20 and ODI World Cups and Champions Trophy.
Michael Vaughan: Combinations In The CSK Batting Lineup Can Change Depending On The Pitch And Opposition Bowlers
Michael Vaughan hailed MS Dhoni’s leadership moves which were on display during CSK’s triumph over RCB. He was particularly impressed with the way MS Dhoni used Ambati Rayudu to tackle the Glenn Maxwell threat.
“You look at Rayudu, why did they put him in the position that he got put in? Because the off-spinner (Maxwell) was on. And what did he do first ball to the off-spinner? He danced down the track and whacked him for four.
“It was smart cricket. You have got combinations in the Chennai Super Kings’ batting line-up that can change depending on the pitch, depending on who is bowling,” Michael Vaughan said in a discussion on Cricbuzz.
According to the Ashes-winning England skipper, MS Dhoni and Co. are always trying to one-up the opposition.
Michael Vaughan explained: “MS Dhoni and his team would have realized that if Maxwell got a wicket, he would probably bowl again and more than the two overs that he eventually did. That’s why they sent in a right-hander to make sure that it doesn’t get to that stage. That’s being flexible and not having an ego about where you bat. CSK are always thinking about what the opposition are going to do.”
Carrying on in his praise of MS Dhoni, Michael Vaughan backed the BCCI’s decision to appoint MS Dhoni as the mentor of India’s T20 World Cup squad.
“I know there was a bit of commotion when Dhoni was put in the mentoring role for the T20 World Cup. It is the greatest decision the Indian T20 team has made. You need that kind of brain in and around that dugout and training zones, getting into these players’ minds over how to play T20 cricket. He just does it without thinking. He is such a natural at what he delivers and he seems to get it right 90-95 percent of the time. He is a master,” the 46-year-old Michael Vaughan opined.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu played knocks of 38 and 32, respectively, as CSK chased 157 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with six wickets in hand. With this win, the MS Dhoni-led outfit went to the top of the table. Faf du Plessis also got among the runs as he scored 31.
Earlier, RCB openers Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli scored 70 and 53 respectively to help RCB post 156/6 in the allotted twenty overs. Both openers shared a stand of 111 runs for the first wicket, but CSK all-rounder Dwayne Bravo’s spell of 3-24 helped CSK restrict RCB under the 160-run mark.
MS Dhoni Felt Left Hand-Right Hand Combination Is Important And Feels All CSK Cricketers Are Good Enough To Bat In Any Position
MS Dhoni (11 not out) was at the non-striker’s end when Suresh Raina (17 not out) hitting the winning runs against RCB. Speaking after the match, MS Dhoni also shed light on the decision to send Ambati Rayudu ahead of Suresh Raina in the batting order. According to the veteran CSK skipper, the left-right combination (Moeen Ali was batting at the other end) worked well for the team under the circumstances.
“Looking at the wicket, I felt left-right combo was important. We bat deep, we have a lot of left-handers, so in the back of the head it’s there. And I feel all of them are good enough to play in any position. That’s why we went with the left-right combination,” Dhoni explained.
