CSK bowling consultant Simmons not "surprised" to see yet another "unbelievable MS Dhoni moment "
Apr 15, 2024
MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings bowling consultant Eric Simmons lavished praise on MS Dhoni following his game-changing performance against Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
In a span of just four deliveries, Dhoni made the crowd at Wankhede stand on their feet and witness an amazing six-hitting exhibition.
In the final over of CSK's innings, Hardik Pandya dismissed Daryl Mitchell on the second delivery. Dhoni came ahead of Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi and Shardul Thakur to face a couple of balls.
He struck a hattrick of sixes to take CSK to an unlikely total of 206/4, leaving MI stars dazed in the process.
Simmons acknowledged that he wasn't surprised to see sixes raining in Wankhede from Dhoni's bat because of the way he has performed in the nets.
"Just the important thing is the psychological pressure that you put on your opposition. When you have an over like that it just gives you massive momentum. They were looking to restrict us at 200 and suddenly they are facing 206 with an over like that. We are close to him and he continues to amaze us. He has been batting exceptionally well in the nets all the way through pre-season to the tournament. So probably not surprising but it is another unbelievable MS Dhoni moment," Simmons said in the post-match press conference.
While Dhoni made the headlines with a vintage effort, Shivam Dube was the driving force throughout the middle phase. He raced to 66 off just 38 deliveries with his impeccable timing, which Simmons feels often gets overlooked.
"He has put in a tremendous amount of effort. He hit a cover drive and I don't think people appreciate the timing with which he hits the ball. He has got brute force but his timing is outstanding," he added.
While defending 207, Matheesha Pathirana starred with a four-wicket haul, but the other bowlers suffered a different fate.
Shardul Thakur got smacked all over the park as he ended up conceding 33 runs in his first three overs. However, he came back to concede just two runs in his final over and make the equation 77 off 36.
Tushar Deshpande followed it up by removing MI skipper Hardik Pandya, turning the equation to 72 off 24. Their sensational overs set the base for CSK's 20-run win.
"The unsung heroes tonight were Tushar and Shardul. Shardul bowled one of the best overs I have ever seen. At that stage they were looking at 12s-13s an over, the game's very much in the balance. He bowls the over and it goes up at 14. The game turned there," Simmons said.
"Matheesha will get a lot of accolades and he deserves it because of the way he bowled and the breakthroughs he gave us. But those two gentlemen did extremely well for us to push the rate out of reach out of MI," he added.
"Tushar is a very intelligent bowler. Our conversations are around his tactics, his understanding of conditions and oppositions. One of the things we try and do is make sure bowlers have clarity when they arrive at game and they know exactly what they have to do and also understand the tactics. So not just what the tactic is but also why it is like that. And he has a very clear understanding of the tactic and also why it is like that." Simmons stated.
