NEW DELHI: Batting coach Mike Hussey believes that superstar Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who stepped down as captain of the Chennai Super Kings, is in a fantastic place right now and will only “evolve” more.
Dhoni is hitting at a rate of 255.88, which is a new level for him, and he has been in explosive form in what seems to be his final season in the IPL.
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“He’s just in a wonderful place in his career.He’s at a place where he’s comfortable, he’s happy, enjoying his cricket,” Hussey said ahead of CSK‘s home match against Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai on Tuesday.
“He’s practiced and prepared really well coming into the tournament. Of course bowlers are coming up with different plans against him because he’s probably the greatest finisher of all time.”
The 48-year-old Australian acknowledged that Dhoni would keep improving and make it tougher for bowlers, even at the fag end of his career.
“They (bowlers) need to come up with different ideas. So that’s one of the wonderful things about MS. He’ll continue to evolve and continue even at this stage of his career to make himself better and make it harder for the bowlers to bowl to him,” Hussey said.
Despite recent setbacks, Hussey showed faith in Rachin Ravindra‘s mental toughness and hinted that a solid blow from the Kiwi might be on the horizon.
After having a strong start to the season, Ravindra has encountered some difficulties. He has only scored 50 runs in his last five innings.
“He’s going well. Batting can be very fickle, you know, especially at the top of the order. If you get on to a bit of a roll, you can keep it rolling, but unfortunately he’s missed out a couple of times, but he’s still in a good place mentally.
“His game looks good and he’s just one inning closer to that big score. He’s still in a positive frame of mind. He’s batting well at the nets, so we’re hopeful that there’s a big score very soon,” he said.
CSK were beaten by LSG in their previous outing but Hussey said they are not looking at this as a “revenge match”.
“Not really. Every game is a tough game. We played them in their conditions and I thought we put up a decent fight.
“They (LSG) have been a very good team for a number of years now. But the bonus for us is we know the conditions well, and there will be an extra player we will have tomorrow in the Yellow Army,” Hussey said.
KL Rahul, the captain of LSG, has amassed 286 runs at a strike rate of 143 from seven innings, making him the team’s top run scorer.
Hussey stated that their strategy for bowling will be to move the ball quickly and get the crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock and Rahul early on.
“Rahul has been a fantastic player for a long period of time. He’s very difficult to bowl to because he plays great shots all around the ground. He seems like he’s in a really good mindset at the moment as well, so he’s confident. And he’s playing some good cricket, so that makes him very dangerous,” he said.
“He’s also got the ability to go on and play that big innings. He can score 80+ so if you’ve got a player in your batting order who can score 80+, then you’re going to be in most games.
“I guess if we can get the ball moving early, that would be a big bonus for us. You know, to both him and De Kock. That was one of our problems in the last match. So our focus will be to try and get that new ball moving. Any batsman, whether you’re KL or anyone else, anyone can be vulnerable against the moving ball,” he added.
CSK will play back-to-back three games at the home turf but Hussey is not thinking too far ahead and is taking one match at a time.
“Of course, it is going to be really important. The closer you get to the back end of the tournament, the win becomes really important,” the former CSK opener said.
“Wins are important at any time of the tournament. We got off to a pretty good start and we have a very good record at home.
“If we can play well in the next three games it gives us a really good chance. However, it is also dangerous for us to think it is just going to happen, and it is dangerous for us to think too far ahead as well,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
Dhoni is hitting at a rate of 255.88, which is a new level for him, and he has been in explosive form in what seems to be his final season in the IPL.
IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLE
“He’s just in a wonderful place in his career.He’s at a place where he’s comfortable, he’s happy, enjoying his cricket,” Hussey said ahead of CSK‘s home match against Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai on Tuesday.
“He’s practiced and prepared really well coming into the tournament. Of course bowlers are coming up with different plans against him because he’s probably the greatest finisher of all time.”
The 48-year-old Australian acknowledged that Dhoni would keep improving and make it tougher for bowlers, even at the fag end of his career.
“They (bowlers) need to come up with different ideas. So that’s one of the wonderful things about MS. He’ll continue to evolve and continue even at this stage of his career to make himself better and make it harder for the bowlers to bowl to him,” Hussey said.
Despite recent setbacks, Hussey showed faith in Rachin Ravindra‘s mental toughness and hinted that a solid blow from the Kiwi might be on the horizon.
After having a strong start to the season, Ravindra has encountered some difficulties. He has only scored 50 runs in his last five innings.
“He’s going well. Batting can be very fickle, you know, especially at the top of the order. If you get on to a bit of a roll, you can keep it rolling, but unfortunately he’s missed out a couple of times, but he’s still in a good place mentally.
“His game looks good and he’s just one inning closer to that big score. He’s still in a positive frame of mind. He’s batting well at the nets, so we’re hopeful that there’s a big score very soon,” he said.
CSK were beaten by LSG in their previous outing but Hussey said they are not looking at this as a “revenge match”.
“Not really. Every game is a tough game. We played them in their conditions and I thought we put up a decent fight.
“They (LSG) have been a very good team for a number of years now. But the bonus for us is we know the conditions well, and there will be an extra player we will have tomorrow in the Yellow Army,” Hussey said.
KL Rahul, the captain of LSG, has amassed 286 runs at a strike rate of 143 from seven innings, making him the team’s top run scorer.
Hussey stated that their strategy for bowling will be to move the ball quickly and get the crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock and Rahul early on.
“Rahul has been a fantastic player for a long period of time. He’s very difficult to bowl to because he plays great shots all around the ground. He seems like he’s in a really good mindset at the moment as well, so he’s confident. And he’s playing some good cricket, so that makes him very dangerous,” he said.
“He’s also got the ability to go on and play that big innings. He can score 80+ so if you’ve got a player in your batting order who can score 80+, then you’re going to be in most games.
“I guess if we can get the ball moving early, that would be a big bonus for us. You know, to both him and De Kock. That was one of our problems in the last match. So our focus will be to try and get that new ball moving. Any batsman, whether you’re KL or anyone else, anyone can be vulnerable against the moving ball,” he added.
CSK will play back-to-back three games at the home turf but Hussey is not thinking too far ahead and is taking one match at a time.
“Of course, it is going to be really important. The closer you get to the back end of the tournament, the win becomes really important,” the former CSK opener said.
“Wins are important at any time of the tournament. We got off to a pretty good start and we have a very good record at home.
“If we can play well in the next three games it gives us a really good chance. However, it is also dangerous for us to think it is just going to happen, and it is dangerous for us to think too far ahead as well,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)