IPL 2019: Dhoni not happy with the openers despite the good show against Delhi

Chennai Super Kings outplayed Delhi Capitals and defeated them by 6 wickets in the Qualifier 2 yesterday. The batting unit of CSK has struggled badly and have been over-reliant on their skipper MS Dhoni with the bat in this season. The opening combination has been a big problem for CSK in IPL 2019.

Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis were the openers for CSK in eleven out of sixteen matches played so far. Watson and Faf had managed to get 50+ partnership only twice while 7 times their partnership ended for 20 or less than 20 runs. CSK had not enjoyed batting in Power play this year as they have the lowest run rate in the powerplay. Watson and Faf have played 46.4 overs (280 balls) and scored 312 runs with a run rate of less than 7. In this season, the longest partnership (62 runs in 10.2 overs) between them was against Delhi Capitals yesterday.

It is very obvious that their team management including their skipper is very disappointed with their openers. Dhoni said the following while expressing his thoughts,

"I would have preferred the openers to do the job. Once the required run rate falls below six, there is no reason to play big shots and get out. They had done the hard yards. Different captains have different views, but I am still happy with the win."

Man of the match of yesterday's game, Faf du Plessis told in his post-match interview,

"We spoke about it before the game - didn't have the best run in the last 5-6 games. Watto thanked me already for scoring quickly at the beginning before he got set. Hopefully, we can both get them off the meat in the final right from the word go."

Faf's opening partner Watson thanked him and said,

"The way Faf got going, I could take my time getting into rhythm. It took me a little while, and Faf batted beautifully, to be able to take on the bowlers at that stage. I could take a couple more balls to find my feet."

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