'It cost them': Former cricketers slam MS Dhoni's failed move in CSK vs GT IPL 2023 match

CSK vs GT: Four-time reigning champions Chennai Super Kings were not able to go past Gujarat Titans as they lost the opening encounter of the IPL 2023 by a margin of five wickets. Shubman Gill was the star of the Titans' batting as he gave a solid foundation to the team while chasing a target of 179. Gill played a knock of 63 runs off just 36 balls at a strike rate of 175. Shubman's innings consisted of six fours and three sixes. The right-handed Indian batsman continued his golden international cricket form in the first match of the IPL as well. 

All the Chennai bowlers went for runs and were not able to control the flow of runs. One other main reason why CSK lost the match was MS Dhoni's decision to send in Shivam Dube at six instead of Ravindra Jadeja or Dhoni himself. The Chennai-based franchise was going at a good run rate and was 125/3 before Ambati Rayudu fell to Joshua Little in the 13th over. Ruturaj Gaekwad at the other end was batting in dream form.

The move by MS Dhoni of sending Shivam Dube failed very badly as he wasted a lot of bowls and also was not able to make runs. This gave the Titans' bowlers the to put pressure back on the CSK and this ended them reaching a score where they should not have reached. 

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Chennai was well in position to go past 200 in that phase but ended up scoring 178/7 which meant they were 15-20 runs short of where they should have been. However, MS Dhoni's decision was not liked by some of the commentators and former cricketers like AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Eoin Morgan, and Graeme Swann. 

'It cost them': Graeme Swann

The most unhappy amongst all the ex-cricketers was Graeme Swann and he said while doing commentary on Jio Cinema, "CSK got their middle-order wrong, it cost them. Dhoni should have come in (in place of Dube)."

Chennai Super Kings will play their next match against the Lucknow Super Giants at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. CSK will be returning to Chepauk after a gap of three years and the franchise will be hoping to win the second match against LSG.