In the ongoing Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings has always opted to bowl first after winning the toss, three times, in the matches played in its home ground, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. The reason is the dew, which is a disadvantage for the teams bowling second as it becomes difficult for the spinners to grip the ball and the seamers to get the right length.
While these strategies are for skippers, coaches and analysts only, recently students from the reputed Indian Institute of Technology had the task of donning the skipper's hat.
IIT-M Professor Vignesh Muthuvijayan gave a question to his students on what Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni should do after winning the toss in the IPL Qualifier 1 scenario against Mumbai Indians.
“Dew can play a major role in day-night matches. Excessive dew in the outfield makes the ball wet. For spinners, the challenge is to grip the wet ball and get it to impart spin. For fast bowlers, it is difficult to hit the desired length. Hence, this can put the fielding team at a disadvantage. During IPL 2019, Chennai Super Kings are likely to play a qualifier at Chepauk Stadium on May 7. As per the weather forecast on May 7, the relative humidity in Chennai is expected to be 70 per cent. The temperature at the start of the game is expected to be 39 degrees. At the beginning of the second innings, the temperature is expected to drop to 27 degrees. Based on this info, if Dhoni wins the toss would you recommend batting or fielding first. Justify your answer," the question read.
A snapshot of the question paper went viral on social media with the International Cricket Council's (ICC) official Twitter account picking it up.
Many of the replies to the tweet suggested Dhoni ought to have bowled first.
Dhoni, however, elected to bat first as CSK posted 131 on the board and went on to lose the game by six wickets.
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