CSK did manage to put in a late lunge that allowed them to walk within touching distance of the finish line against the Rajasthan Royals as MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja were in impeccable form and almost pulled off the impossible. However, Sandeep Sharma kept his calm and despite being up against MS Dhoni, despite conceding two sixes in that final over, he would turn the game around in frenetic fashion, defending 7 runs in the final three balls as the Rajasthan Royals would emerge victorious by 3 runs in the end.
No matter what the people has to say about a valiant fight, at the end of the day, they lost and this makes them stand at 2 wins from 4 games which against isn’t a phenomenal record. Dhoni said in the press conference that maybe they kept things for too late. The middle overs were completely out of Chennai’s control as the Rajasthan spinners made good use of the fielding restrictions. Here are the two changes that Chennai must make in their upcoming game.
#1 Drop Devon Conway and open the innings with Ajinkya Rahane
Devon Conway did manage to smash a half-century for sure but at the end of it all, he could hardly manage to score 50 from 38 balls. Ideally, if you are chasing 175, that number needs to be a lot better. The slowing down of things up early with the fielders inside is actually a denting blow to the aspirations of Chennai.
Ajinkya Rahane came out in the center in the middle-order and did make up for lost time for sure with a brilliant 19-ball-31 but at the end of the day with the amount of time lost early, it was too difficult for the batters who followed suit to make haste. Hence, Ajinkya Rahane’s current form and imperious striking makes him a fine pick for the opening slot. This is exactly what CSK should try and do that would allow them get in an extra overseas player in the middle order.
#2 MS Dhoni to bat at number 4
MS Dhoni has been back to his hard-hitting best towards the tail-end of the innings. This is exactly where it is all going wrong for the CSK. Ideally, with the kind of work that is being done in the middle-order, it is not helping the cause of CSK to have a grandstand finish.
MS Dhoni’s promotion up the order would help them by a massive deal to try and find an outlet in the middle order, particularly in the middle overs that would provide them the much needed impetus and also would provide the due time to MS Dhoni to provide himself a platform to go for a grandstand finish.
