Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that they will be giving chances to the youngsters in their remaining matches after the humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians on Friday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
“I think it’s important for us to have a clear picture of next year. There are lots of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ — what kind of auction we are looking, where the venues will be. The coming three games will be an ideal opportunity to give platforms to players who have missed out. See some of the youngsters in preparation for the next year. A few more who are on the bench will get games in the coming three games,” said Dhoni after the match.
Thanks to Trent Boult’s 4-wicket haul and valuable contributions from Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Chahar, Mumbai Indians restricted Chennai Super Kings for an embarassing total of 114/9.
Chasing the target, an unbeaten opening stand between Ishan Kishan (68 off 37 balls) and Quinton de Kock (46 off 37) helped Mumbai Indians in registering the victory with more than 7 overs to spare.
Admitting that their hopes of making it to the playoff is well and over, Dhoni said that the players have not done enough this season considering the kind of stats they have accrued over the course of their careers.
“What you need to see is where we actually went wrong, right from the second game. It was more about the bowling and the batting was not turning up. [Ambati] Rayudu got injured, the other batsman were maybe not able to perform,” said Dhoni.
“Whenever we don’t get off to a good start, it puts pressure on the middle order. In cricket when you’re going through a tough phase, you need a bit of luck which hasn’t happened this year. The games we wanted to bat first, we haven’t won the toss, and there’s no dew and all of a sudden when we bat first there’s dew.”
Dhoni’s team now have six points from 11 matches, out of which they have lost eight, and are now placed at the bottom of the eight-team table.
With Friday’s comprehensive win, three-time champions Mumbai have gone atop the table with 14 points. Although Delhi Capitals and Royals Challengers Bangalore also have 14 points, they are placed second and third respectively on net run rate.