CSK’s bowling coach, Eric Simmons, believes that it was Ms. Dhoni’s knock that put the Mumbai Indians under pressure. Coming into bat in the final over, Ms. Dhoni smashed Mumbai’s skipper Hardik Pandya for three conspicuous sixes, scoring 20 of just four deliveries.
Dhoni also became the third player in the IPL to hit three consecutive sixes in an over. Apart from this, Dhoni becomes the second player after Suresh Raina to score 5000 runs for the Chennai Super Kings.
In his post-match presentation, Eric Simmons said, “Such an important thing is the psychological pressure you put an opponent under when you go into the break. You go to the change room and you have an over like that; it gives you massive momentum. They were looking to restrict us under 200, and suddenly they were facing 2006 with an over like that. MS Dhoni continues to amaze us”.
The bowling coach further added, “To go out there and hit the first ball like that for six and continue the way he did was exceptional. He has been batting exceptionally well in the nets all the way through the pre-season and into the tournament. It was just another unbelievable MS Dhoni moment.”
Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma gave Mumbai a flying start in the chase, but it was Matheesha Pathirana who turned the match in CSK’s favor, picking up four wickets in the match.
Speaking about CSK’s bowling, Eric Simmons said that CSK bowlers use Dhoni as a tamplet to bowl well in the death overs.
Eric Simmons said, “Dhoni is one of the most incredible cricketers I have come across. Just the way he goes about it, calmness at the wicket. We use him as a batting template when we are bowling at the death because he is so good at it. We can test out our theories against him, and we know that we are going to do well.”
