With Chennai Super Kings entering a new era after MS Dhoni stepped down from the team captaincy ahead of IPL 2024, eyes are fixated on Ruturaj Gaikwad who has succeeded the icon into the role. Under Gaikwad, CSK started with consecutive wins as they brushed aside Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans but have since lost two matches in a row, against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
It’s still early days to ring alarm bells and pass a judgement on Gaikwad’s leadership but Australia legend and former CSK star Matthew Hayden has pointed out that the opener might be under some pressure considering he’s stepping into the big shoes of Dhoni who led the franchise to five IPL titles during his rein.
CSK lost to SRH on Friday night and Hayden feels that a couple of decisions that Gaikwad took including not playing Moeen Ali higher in the batting order and slotting Maheesh Theekshana to neutralise the threat of Travis Head,
“There were a couple of decisions which weren’t quite sharp,” Hayden said on Star Sports. “When you think of Moeen Ali as an all-rounder, he ended up contributing nicely with the ball, but he should have been batted up the order. He should have been given a licence. They were lagging inside that power play. They were 1 for 49 in the power play. So to me, they needed an injection of some hope and some courage, and Moeen Ali could have provided that.”
“With the ball, I think they probably could have bowled Theekshana straight away to Travis Head. It’s a great match-up. Don’t wait until the fourth over. He went for plenty of that second over. So for me, Theekshana straight up front against Travis Head could have been a better move,” he added.
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Hayden feels Gaikwad has be to a little quick with his decision making.
“So some sharp action was needed, and I think it can never be easy with a cloud of MS Dhoni around you, and I’m not saying that’s because of MS Dhoni. But it is what it is. He is Thala. So Ruturaj Gaikwad might be having that sort of pressure inside him, and maybe his reaction and decision-making process need to be just a little quicker and a little sharper,” he said.
Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan agreed and added that Dhoni could have also batted up the order.
“…apart from Moeen Ali, Mahendra Singh Dhoni could have batted up the order just purely because of the match-up. Match-up against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jaydev Unadkat. He has played well against both of them, especially in the later stage of the game. Plus, when Pat Cummins bowling into the pitch, it would have been easier for right-hander to hit on the leg side with that angle in rather than against a left-hander because for the left-hander we saw that Ravindra Jadeja just couldn’t get going and in the end that was the difference as well,” Pathan said.
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