Trust Dhoni to point out the shortcomings of his team better than anyone else in World Cricket. Despite the Chennai Super Kings displaying an almost perfect performance to register a 6-wicket win over Delhi Capitals and advance to their record 8th final in the IPL, Dhoni expressed concerns over the opening pair of his team. And that too when both of them scored identical half-centuries, helping CSK chase down the 150-run target with 6 balls to spare.
CSK openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis put on an 81-run stand to provide a fine start to their chase. Du Plessis was the first to get out. He made 50 off 39 balls and then Watson followed him a couple of overs later. He scored 50 off 32 balls. It was the manner in which they got out which concerned their captain. Both of them got out while attempting high-risk shots. In the 11th over, Du Plessis mistimed an expansive pull shot when CSK needed barely six-runs an over while Watson was holed out at long-off in the 13th over while trying to hit Amit Mishra for the maximum. This happened after he had already clobbered Keemo Paul for three sixes and boundary in the previous over.
“I would have wanted the openers to get a few more runs because in knockout games, there is no reason to go after the bowlers when the required run rate is below six. If they had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards, why not stay till the end and get the runs under your belt? That would have been much better, different captains have different views about that, but I am happy to take the win any way,” Mahendra Singh Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.