“He’s concentrated on really strong hitting practice” - Stephen Fleming on MS Dhoni’s cameos in IPL 2023

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has stated that MS Dhoni has been training in a certain way, knowing that he is only going to bat for a few overs. Fleming added that the CSK captain is concentrating specifically on his power hitting.

Dhoni has played some valuable cameos for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. On Wednesday, May 10, he smashed 20 in only nine balls against Delhi Capitals (DC), a knock which included one four and two sixes.

The cameo lifted CSK to a score of 167/8 after they won the toss and batted first. Dhoni and Co. went on to win the match by 27 runs as Delhi were held to 140/8.

In a post-match press conference, Fleming opened up on the preparations behind Dhoni’s impressive big-hitting.

He said:

“He’s just training a certain way, he knows he’s not going bat for a long time. He concentrated more on the last three overs. [He’s] not as mobile between the wickets although today [Wednesday] he pushed really hard. So, he’s concentrated on really strong hitting practice.

“You can see the benefits of that. He is just very comfortable being able to play around the ground. We know how good a hitter her is and his access in certain areas is still very strong. That cameo again at the end was valuable in a hard-fought 20 overs.”

While Dhoni played an impressive hand with the willow, pacers Matheesha Pathirana (3/37) and Deepak Chahar (2/28) shone with the ball.

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“Players play with more high risks” - Fleming on CSK’s batting approach

Intriguingly, while Chennai went on to post a challenging 167 on the board, not a single batter touched the 30-run mark. Apart from Dhoni, five other batters chipped in with 20s, with Shivam Dube’s 12-ball 25 being the highest score.

Asked if it was a worry, Fleming had a different take. He opined:

“It’s a reflection of the way games now are played, the players play with more high risks and the way you compose an innings is a little bit different, so I’m happy with the cameos if it keeps pushing you above par.

“What you’ve seen today, maybe a 160 wicket was turned into almost a possible 175-10 because we had positive intent through partnerships and guys playing aggressively. Dube is a good example of that, Rayudu and then MS in the end. We created enough to get ahead of the game, which we are happy with, even though we lost seven wickets.”

With the win on Wednesday, CSK now have 15 points from 12 matches. They look set to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs if they claim victory in one of their remaining two games.