Graeme Smith on the left and MS Dhoni on the right. (FILE) Riding on MS Dhoni’s fiery cameo, Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday beat Delhi Capitals by 27 runs and took a giant stride towards IPL play-off.
Dhoni got to step onto the pitch at Chepauk to a vociferous reception from the CSK home fans, where he delivered 20 runs in just 9 balls.
Speaking about the pressure on the skipper every time he steps on the ground, IPL expert Graeme Smith reckons it’s enormous.
The former South Africa international also said that Dhoni has found his best again in IPL 2023.
The heart leapt twice today! 💛🦁#CSKvDC #WhistlePodu #Yellove @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/kDHYrtYItD
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 10, 2023
“The pressure on him every time he goes to bat is enormous. The roars every time he gets on strike, and the crowd goes berserk. It’s incredible to watch, this season, he has found his best again,” Smith said on Jio Cinema.
“Khaleel was bowling really well until that over against MS, he kind of read the play and had him under pressure. Once he hit that one down the ground, you could just see Khaleel, he didn’t think he’d get it going. That put him under pressure. 20 off 9, strike rate of over 220, just the impetus he and Jadeja gave that inning, that 160 total created pressure,” he added.
While Chennai emerged victorious last night, it’s almost curtains for the Capitals for this year and Graeme Smith, too, believes that Delhi’s season has come to an end.
“I think that they are gone. As a team, they had a little bit of momentum, they needed to keep winning to have a chance. I just think there are too many other teams that have the opportunity to get to 16 points, so I think Delhi is in big trouble in this tournament in what has been a very disappointing campaign for them,” he said.
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