Virender Sehwag, the former aggressive Indian opener has analyzed Chennai Super Kings 44-run defeat to Delhi Capitals in his own inimitable style, saying ‘Delhi Metro’ got the better of ‘Chennai Express’ in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 encounter on Friday in Dubai.
Virender Sehwag poked fun at Chennai Super King’s approach to their 176-run chase, saying it gave him a feel of watching a Test match. Virender Sehwag also touched upon MS Dhoni’s reluctance to bat higher up the order, saying India might get the much-awaited bullet trains before the CSK captain makes up his mind and comes ahead in the batting order at No. 4.
Virender Sehwag : CSK Batsmen Were Playing Tests Not T20s
As he pointed out, CSK came up with a strange approach to their chase for the 2nd successive time at IPL 2020. While they got their tactics wrong in a 217-run chase against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, they did not learn from their mistake while chasing 176 against Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals.
At the end of the 10 over-mark, CSK were struggling at 47 for 3 as the asking rate shot up to 12. CSK were not able to score boundaries as Kedar Jadhav struggled to get going while batting with a busy in form Faf du Plessis seemed to be the lone-warrior in an otherwise worrying batting unit.
“There’s no comparison between a metro and a rail but like Delhi Capitals, Metro is young. Delhi blew the whistles out of Chennai’s dad army. In a T20 situation, on a green wicket like Perth, if you play a Test match, then I would rather watch Sooraj Barjatya movie. Chennai’s batting was quite like that,” Virender Sehwag jokingly said in his Facebook video.
“CSK start wasn’t that bad but it felt like they were constantly on 2nd gear. Murali Vijay, it seemed, didn’t believe he was playing T20s. Shane Watson, like an old engine, had starting trouble and then came to a halt early. Faf du Plessis walked in and it seems he tried to make his teammates understand that they were playing T20s and not Tests.”
“Even then MS Dhoni did not come in to bat. Now, it seems India might get bullet trains before MS Dhoni makes up his mind to bat at No. 4,” he added.
CSK needed 78 off 26 balls when skipper MS Dhoni walked into the crease. But the asking rate proved a bit too much as the 3-time champions were restricted to 131 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs. After opening the season with a win over Mumbai Indians, CSK have lost two successive games on the trot.
Virender Sehwag Expressed Surprise Over CSK’s Failure To Appeal For Caught Behind As Prithvi Shaw Makes Most Of Opportunity After Getting Reprieve
Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag also expressed surprise over CSK’s failure to spot an inside-edge in the very first over of the match. Prithvi Shaw got a faint edge in pacer Deepak Chahar’s over but there was no appeal from MS Dhoni and CSK. The 20-year-old Prithvi Shaw scored 64 after CSK did not appeal when he was yet to score.
Having got a reprieve, Prithvi Shaw made full use of the opportunity as he hit 64 off just 43 balls to give Delhi Capitals a strong start. The young opener took CSK spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla to the cleaners after the powerplay.
“CSK got the wicket of Prithvi Shaw in the 1st over but no one appealed. Despite playing in front of empty stands, none of them head the edge. How did they not know? You won’t get anything these days if you don’t ask,” he added.
“What happened next? After knocking it around in the 1st 5 overs, Shaw shifted gears and hit Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla to the cleaners. Chawla came back and picked up 2 wickets but it was too late by then,” Sehwag said.
CSK had a mixed start to the season winning the first and losing the next two but there are concerns over their batting unit. Spin was their major strength in the past, but according to head coach Stephen Fleming, it has become a cause for concern now with Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja leaking plenty of runs. CSK will be hoping a 6-day break will help them to sort their issues out and return back to wins.