Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri lavished massive praise on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni for backing spin-bowling duo Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner against Mumbai Indians. CSK earned their second win against arch-rivals MI by seven wickets at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, April 8.
Speaking about the match, Chennai restricted the home side to 157/8. Shastri highlighted how Dhoni backed the spinners to cause the damage and tilt the game in his team’s favour. Notably, Jadeja and Santner picked five wickets between them and gave away mere 48 runs in their eight overs combined.
“MS Dhoni made excellent use of Santner and Jadeja against Mumbai Indians batters. He knew that on such wickets these two can turn the tide, and that is why he showed more confidence in them,” Shastri told Star Sports.
Mumbai got off to a brisk start, making full use of the powerplay as they scored 61 runs in their first six overs. However, the CSK skipper decided to introduce spin immediately into the attack which paid rich dividends.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane steal the show during chase
Following the decent bowling performance, the onus was on the batters to steer them to a second straight win. However, Jason Behrendorff drew first blood as he got the vital scalp of opener Devon Conway on the fourth ball of the first over for a nought.
Despite the early wicket, Ajinkya Rahane took the crowd in Mumbai by storm as he clobbered a 27-ball 61, the fastest fifty of IPL 2023 so far (19 balls). Meanwhile, Gaikwad played a composed knock and his 36-ball 40 was enough to guide CSK to their second win. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians lost their second game in a row as they lost by eight wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opener.