“He manages to unearth and polish rough diamonds like Deshpande and Pathirana” - Tom Moody hails MS Dhoni’s role in CSK’s IPL 2023 triumph

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody has praised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni for getting the best out of youngsters like Tushar Deshpande and Matheesha Pathirana during the team’s successful Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign. Hailing the Indian legend, he opined that Dhoni has the ability to unearth and polish rough diamonds.

CSK beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets (via the DLS method) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With the triumph, Chennai also equaled Mumbai Indians’ (MI) record for most IPL wins - five.

Pacers Deshpande and Pathirana were two of the stars in CSK’s impressive campaign, claiming 21 and 19 wickets, respectively. Moody credited Dhoni for turning the duo into match-winners for the franchise in IPL 2023.

He told ESPNcricinfo:

“CSK have had many great campaigns, but this would have to be up there among their best. Given the circumstances of the squad they have - it’s not a squad that at the start of the season that you would think is bursting at the seams with a lot of experience and match-winning players. But, what it does have is a captain called MS Dhoni.

“What he does is provides that stability, leadership and guidance better than anyone in this format of the game. He manages to draw the very best of whether it be a senior player like a [Ajinkya] Rahane or he helps develop a player like [Shivam] Dube to play above a level that he’s never been before. He manages to unearth and polish rough diamonds like Deshpande and Pathirana. MS Dhoni is the master at doing it.”

GT batted first in the IPL 2023 final and posted 214/4. Chasing a revised DLS target of 171 in 15 overs, Chennai got home off the last ball in a dramatic finish.

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“Seeing Dhoni marshaling his bowling unit” - Moody picks the most memorable aspect of CSK’s campaign

While reviewing CSK’s performance in IPL 2023, Moody picked Dhoni’s marshaling of his bowling resources, comprising a number of youngsters, as the most impressive aspect of their campaign.

The 57-year-old stated:

“Seeing MS Dhoni marshaling his bowling unit [was the most impressive part]. [Ravindra] Jadeja had a great tournament with the ball. [Maheesh] Theekshana’s obviously got huge amount of experience. The likes of Deshpande and Pathirana are relatively new, young and exciting talents - the way that he has managed them and their performances, and got the best out of them.

“You could see them grow and develop in front of your eyes as the tournament unfolded.”

While Deshpande (21 wickets) was CSK’s leading wicket-taker in IPL 2023, Jadeja was the next best with 20 scalps at an average of 21.55.