Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting was amazed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s calm demeanor under pressure, describing the legendary Chennai Super Kings captain as one of the greatest finishers of the game. An irritable Dhoni produced a nostalgic short innings to take a band of CSK old men to their ninth Indian Premier League final after beating DC by four wickets in Qualifier 1 here on Sunday night.
13 runs needed in the last over, Dhoni hit a square cut, a little luck went his way and then pulled DC’s best bowler Tom Curran for the most famous T20I boundary in recent times. Earlier, he had only hit Avesh Khan for a six at mid-wicket.
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“Yeah, look, he (Dhoni) has been one of the greats. This was the situation tonight, we were sitting back in the dug-out and thinking, will (Ravindra) Jadeja come forward, will Dhoni come forward and I straight up my hand and said Dhoni will just come out and try ( And ) ice the game,” Ponting said.
“Look, I think when he’s done and when he retires, I think he’ll definitely be remembered as one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen.” Ponting said that the DC bowlers failed to execute their plans against Dhoni. “Look, we probably didn’t deliver what he (Dhoni) needed in those last two overs and you know if you miss, he’s going to pay you and he’s done it for a long time.
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“I think, our bowlers missed their areas for MS in the end and they definitely paid us off,” he added. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming also praised their captain, who turned the clock back and played a game. The match-winning cameo in Qualifier 1 said it was “emotional” to see Dhoni finish the game.
“Well, it was great. It was great for us emotionally. We wish him (Dhoni) every time he goes out because we know he has pressure, he has expectations and again he Trump came for us. So it was emotional in the changing room.’ “
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“We, I think, we have probably talked more in these 20 overs than we have in a long time. There was a lot of technical discussion to try and figure out how this would unfold and who was going to make the most impact.
“But let me tell you that when the captain has a look in his eyes and is told that I will go, it is well documented that he did and today was one of them. Therefore, I did not hold him back. And we saw the result of that,” the head coach said. Before Dhoni put the finishing touches, it was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s stroke-filled 70 and Robin Uthappa’s equally aggressive 63 that laid the foundation for CSK’s victory.
“Well, we are very proud of every performance by a player that helps us (us) win games, so it was very special. I thought he (Uthappa) had a good intention from the very first ball. and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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