In the 18th Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the five-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have not had a great start. The team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad has lost back-to-back games to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals after defeating the Mumbai Indians, in their tournament opener.
CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has now assured the franchise's supporters that good days are coming. Ravindra Jadeja posted a photo of himself with MS Dhoni in the center a day after the Rajasthan Royals' loss in Guwahati. He assured them that the franchise's fortunes would undoubtedly improve from there.
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Earlier against the Rajasthan Royals, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja did everything in their power to get CSK across the finish line. 39 off the last two overs was the equation and both scored 19 runs off Tushar Deshpande who bowled the penultimate over of the game.
Sandeep Sharma held the ball as CSK needed 20 runs in the last over. MS Dhoni was poised to accomplish the unimaginable after the opening delivery went wide. But CSK's chances of a historic victory were lost when Sandeep Sharma and Shimron Hetmyer joined forces to dismiss the wicketkeeper-batter on the opening delivery of the over. Ultimately, CSK lost by six runs, and the Rajasthan Royals won for the first time this season.
Jadeja stayed unbeaten at 32 off 22 balls, while Dhoni was dismissed for 16 off 11 balls. When facing the Rajasthan Royals, MS Dhoni came out to bat at number seven. There was a lot of debate when the former captain of India batted at number nine against RCB earlier.
Head coach Stephen Fleming of CSK clarified after the match against RR that Dhoni's shaky knees prevented him from batting for extended periods of time. "MS judges it. His body is, his knees aren't what they used to be. And he's moving okay, but there's still an attrition aspect to it. He can't bat 10 overs running full stick. So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game's in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he's balancing that," said Fleming.
"I said it last year [as well], he's too valuable to us - leadership and wicket-keeping - to throw him in nine, ten overs. He has actually never done that. So, look, from around 13-14 overs, he's looking to go depending on who's in," he added.
CSK are presently ranked eighth in the standings. The team will play the Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday, April 5.
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