MS Dhoni says batting down the order in the IPL was like quicksand

Sport360 staff 16:48 12/06/2018
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  • MS Dhoni helped lead CSK to an IPL title.

    Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has revealed that he was determined to bat higher up the order in IPL 2018, as batting lower, in his age, is similar to stepping into quicksand.

    The 36-year old was key to CSK’s title-winning campaign this year, scoring 455 runs in 16 games.

    “I was sure in my mind that I wanted to bat up the order, because with age, me batting down the order was like quicksand,” Dhoni said at an event in Mumbai.

    “I wanted to make sure that I wanted to take the responsibility of winning the game, but I was coming so [far] down the order that I was not giving time to myself.

    “So, it was more like quicksand: the more I flutter, the deeper I would go. So, I said that I want to make a team where we bat deep, that gives me a chance to bat up the order, and to me up the order doesn’t mean I want to bat at three, four or five; it’s the number of overs [left in the innings].”

    Dhoni also emphasised on why he wanted to bat higher and how CSK batting deep helped him to be aggressive in the middle.

    “I said that I want to bat up, so when I go into bat, I would like to bat aggressive, so that even if I get out, it gives others a chance to reinvent themselves about finishing the game, what they need to do, if they are under pressure and all of that,” he said.

    “Fortunately, we did not use our batting order to the full extent in the whole of IPL because [Shane] Watson, [Ambati] Rayudu, [Suresh] Raina, me, [Dwayne] Bravo – we all kept scoring runs and that really helped us.”

    “But my planning, right from the start, was to make a team which bats deep, where everybody should be able to bat, and that gives me an opportunity to go out there and express myself, ” he added.

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