IPL 2024: Dhoni spending just the correct amount of time on crease, says CSK coach Fleming

Dhoni has remained unbeaten throughout the tournament so far and hit a quickfire nine-ball 28 in Chennai Super Kings’ previous match against Lucknow Super Giants.

Dhoni’s highlight in batting this Indian Premier League (IPL) season has been coming in late and hitting quick boundaries for Chennai Super Kings. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini/The Hindu

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was outplayed by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)by eight wickets on Friday night despite some fabulous batting by M.S. Dhoni towards the end, who made 28 off nine balls.

It was only the latest of his uneaten cameos at the IPL. The last time he was dismissed in a game was in May last year, against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad.

CSK’s coach Stephen Fleming felt the amount of time Dhoni was spending at the crease was (just) right.

“He has had problems with his knee and he is still recovering, and for only a certain amount of balls that he can function well,” the coach said. “The two-three over cameos; he is owning that space. It is up to the rest of the batting unit to get us to a good position where he can push us over the top. He is doing that pretty much every time at the moment, which is great to watch.”

Fleming said his team struggled to get any momentum against LSG. “We had to do something similar to what they did, which is to take wickets throughout,” he said. “But the opening stand was a match winning one.”

LSG’s debutant seamer Matt Henry also felt the same. “That partnership between Quinton de Kock and K.L. Rahul really changed the game for us,” he said. “It was world class.”