The legend of MS Dhoni’s captaincy continues to grow with the 36-year-old lifting his third IPL crown on Sunday after Chennai Super Kings’ eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Dhoni and his men proved detractors wrong as they marched to a comprehensive title win despite having an ageing squad.
Upon receiving the trophy, the veteran skipper lauded his side’s batting effort which was led by an astounding unbeaten century from Shane Watson.
“When you’re fielding, you have to adjust your plans, but other than that, our batsmen know their style. And if someone is finding it difficult, you know the incoming batsman won’t have it easy as well. You have to keep in mind that Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) is as deceptive as Rashid, so it’s not only one bowler in their side that could’ve put pressure on us,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.
“So, I feel it’s a really good batting effort. But we always had the belief that we had the firepower in the middle overs. There was no plan to send Bravo up ahead. (Ambati) Rayudu has been our main batter, so we had protection in the middle,” he added.
The Chennai Super Kings skipper once again touched on the subject of having veteran players in the side and said that fitness was the most important factor.
Most wins as T20 Captain:
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 27, 2018
150 ~ MS Dhoni
98 ~ Gambhir
84 ~ Sammy
“Every win is special, so difficult to pick any one win. Lot of people talk about numbers, statistics, so tonight’s 27th, my jersey number is seven, and this was our seventh final. We talked a lot about age, but what’s more important is the fitness. Rayudu, at 32, it doesn’t really matter. If you ask most captains, they want players who move well on the field,” Dhoni said.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re 19-20 years old. We knew our shortcomings, and we were aware of it. If (Shane) Watson tries to dive, he may injure his hamstring, so we don’t want him to do that. We’ve been aware of these things. Age is just a number, but you have to be very fit.”
When asked about what his team’s celebration plans are, Dhoni replied: “No plans as of now. We go to Chennai tomorrow. Irrespective of the result, that was the plan. Go to Chennai, meet the fans and those close to the team. But we’ll have a get together in the hotel and enjoy the evening. “
