IPL 10: Knew they would chase the target as long as MS Dhoni was there, remarks Shikhar Dhawan

The Rising Pune Supergiant registered a close win over the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at Pune recently. It was the old warhorse MS Dhoni who was the star of the show. Dhoni showed why he is revered as the best finisher in the cricket world at the moment. Dhoni scored an unbeaten 61 off just 34 balls to win the game for RPS. It is obvious that the RPS players loved the thrill of watching Dhoni bat.

However, what comes as a surprise is the fact that even the opposition players loved his knock. Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Shikhar Dhawan spoke at length about the match and was in awe for the former RPS skipper. He noted that they were excited to defend the total of 176 on board. However, they knew that as long as MS Dhoni was at the crease, things were not coming their way. He cited that subconsciously even they knew that Dhoni could finish the game for his side.

“There will always be excitement, and it hurts (when you lose a close game). But you know till Dhoni bhai is there he can win the game, that belief everyone has on him. So, subconsciously it is in you also. Dhoni bhai is an experienced player of many years and has pulled out games from similar situation many times. We knew till he was there, they could achieve the target,” Shikhar Dhawan quoted.

Reflecting back at the possible reasons why SRH lost the plot on the day, Dhawan remarked that it was because of the dropped catches. He pointed out that there were two catches being dropped in the match. One of those was of MS Dhoni. He lauded the efforts of the bowlers and said that they did a great job. Unfortunately, the fielders let them down on the day. He believes that those two catches would have changed the course of the match for sure.

“The two catches we dropped were costly, one at the beginning and one of Dhoni bhai. That cost us the game, but I still feel our bowlers bowled well, Bhuvi, Siddarth (Kaul) and even (Mohammed) Siraj. Unfortunately, two catches were dropped off Siraj. Had we taken the two catches, the game could have got a different face. That’s part and parcel of the game,” conceded Dhawan as per the quotes in Wisden India.