Sharjah: CSK suffered an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians in an IPL match here.
Chasing a small 115-run target, openers Ishan Kishan (68*) and Quinton de Kock (46*) took Mumbai Indians home in just 12.2 over. Trent Boult (4-18) and Rahul Chahar (2-22) helped Mumbai Indians restrict Chennai Super Kings to 114/9.
A dejected Dhoni after loss said, ‘Well it does hurt. What you need to see is what is going wrong, this year hasn’t been our year. In only one or two games this year we have batted and bowled well together. Whether you lose by ten wickets or eight wickets it hardly matters. All the players are hurting, but they are trying their best.’
He stated, ‘It doesn’t always go your way. Hopefully in the next three games we’ll try to put our last stand. I felt the second game was all about the bowling, our batting wasn’t turning up. Rayudu got injured and the rest of the batsmen weren’t turning up and we just kept putting pressure on the batting order. Whenever we did not get off to a good start it kept getting difficult for the middle order. In cricket when you are going through a tough phase, you need a bit of luck to go your way. But in this tournament it hasn’t really gone our way. We haven’t really won the toss, when we are batting second there hasn’t been a lot of dew and when we are batting first all of a sudden there is a lot of dew on the field.’
‘So it hasn’t gone our way and those are the things you study. Whenever you aren’t doing well there can be a hundred reasons. One of the main things you ask yourself is whether you are playing to your potential. When you put out a playing eleven and judge whether they have done well to justify their stats on paper on the field, I feel this year we have not done that. Cumulatively when three or four of your batsmen aren’t doing well it becomes difficult. I feel it is part and parcel, you think more about the process.’
Dhoni said, ‘ Even when you are hurting you put a smile on your face so that the management doesn’t look like they are in panic. That is what the youngsters want and I feel the boys have done that. We have kept the dressing room like that and hopefully we can turn it around in the next three games at least for pride. We need to have a clear picture for the next year.’
‘The kind of auction, where the venues will be, and you want to give the boys a chance to perform and show their talent. We have to make the most of the next three games and it is good preparation for the next year. Identify the batsmen, who will bowl at the death and hopefully the players will soak up the pressure. Captain can’t run away, so I’ll be playing in all the games’.