IPL 2021: Dhoni's finishing act against DC 'emotionally great' for CSK - Fleming

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming says M. S. Dhoni was determined to get the job done for his side during Qualifier 1 against Delhi Capitals.

M. S. Dhoni heaves during his innings of 18 (6b) on Sunday. - BCCI/IPL

Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming felt M. S. Dhoni’s finishing act was ‘emotionally great’ for the side and revealed the skipper was determined to get the job done.

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“It was emotionally great for us. We wish him every time he goes out. We know the pressure that he has, an expectation that there is on him and again he came up chops for us. So it was emotional in the changing room,” said Fleming.

Commenting on the discussions he had with Dhoni on whether to send Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the skipper, Fleming revealed, “I think we probably spoke more in these 20 overs than we have for a long time. There were a lot of technical discussions and, just manoeuvring to try and work out how this was going to unfold, and who was going to make the maximum impact.

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“But when the captain gets the look in his eyes and says ‘I'll go’, it's been well documented the times that he has done that and today was one of those. So I ain’t holding him back and we saw the result of that,” added the former New Zealand skipper.

Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting felt his team didn’t bat well enough to win the game and revealed the decision to bowl Tom Curran ahead of Kagiso Rabada for the final over was taken by the skipper Rishabh Pant and it is something he will discuss with the latter.

Dhoni one of the greats - Ponting DC head coach Ricky Ponting praised Ricky Ponting's calm demeanour under pressure. "Yeah, look, he (Dhoni) (has) been one of the greats. It was a situation tonight, we were sitting back in the dug-out and thinking, will (Ravindra) Jadeja come next, will Dhoni come next and I put up my hand up straight away and said Dhoni will come out now and try (and) ice the game," Ponting said. "Look, I think when he is done and when he's retired, I think he'll definitely be remembered as one of the great finishers the game has ever seen." Ponting said DC bowlers failed to execute their plans against Dhoni. "Look we probably didn't execute as well we needed to him (Dhoni) in those last couple of overs and you know that if you miss, he is going to make you pay and he has done it for a long time now. I think, our bowlers just missed their areas a little-bit to MS in the end and he certainly made us pay." - PTI