Dream11 IPL 2020: Kevin Pietersen disagrees with Dhoni's justification on batting at No 7

After Chennai's spectacular collapse against Rajasthan in their second game on September 22, many have questioned Dhoni's tactics on the night. A total of 216 should not have been insurmountable for a team such as Chennai, which is chock-full of power-hitters and experienced match-winners. Of the many notable moments in the match, one was MS Dhoni's decision to demote himself down the order to No. 7.

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Dream11 IPL 2020 Dhoni's batting position under the scanner

Chennai's loss to Rajasthan was especially surprising considering their easy win in their opening game against Mumbai. The match started off on a positive note for Chennai, who took the early wicket of newcomer Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, this was one of the only things that went right for the team. Sanju Samson and captain Steve Smith stitched together a formidable 121-run partnership, along with an explosive last over from Jofra Archer to take the total to a mammoth 216. Ngidi's last over accounted for 30 of the 216. 

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After a sensational start by Watson, who made 33 runs off his 21 balls (1x4 & 4x6), Faf du Plessis took charge of the game, scoring 72 runs off 37 deliveries, striking seven 6s in the process. However, he did not receive any support on the other side. Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad were dealt with promptly by Rahul Tewatia, and while Kedar Jadhav tried to hang around, it became evident that the instructions were not to chase but rather to save the net run rate. With the required run rate creeping up to almost 17 runs per over, MS Dhoni finally decided to come out and play. 

Dhoni's presence immediately bolstered du Plessis, who made 14 runs the next over. Five sixes later, he was caught out in the 19th over. Dhoni had still only made 9 runs off 12 balls. At this point, Chennai needed 38 runs off their last over to win. Dhoni smashed three humongous sixes in the last over, but it was all a case of too little too late. 

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Kevin Pietersen: Dhoni's reason for batting late "nonsense"

In his post-match interview, MS Dhoni defended his decision to come in so late by saying that he hadn't batted in very long. He also said that the 14-day-long quarantine had not helped him get back in form, hence he felt that more in-form players should be given a chance up the order. Ex-England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was one of the many to have called out the lack of logic behind this statement. In the post-match show with Star Sports, Kevin Pietersen said that he does not buy "all this nonsense".

He also talked about how quickly T20 games can change, saying that this was not the time for experiments. He added that if teams went in with a mentality of ‘oh it’s early on in the tournament’ they would regret it because "You can end up losing five games on the go very quickly, and then you can end up thinking oh my goodness, are we actually going to get into the finals?" 

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Image Credits: Chennai IPL team Twitter & Kevin Pietersen Instagram