IPL: 3 times when the team ended up losing due to MS Dhoni's slow knock

MS Dhoni might be one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball and capable of clearing any rope. Yet, time and again, he brings out some uncharacteristic slow batting to the fore. The 37-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Jharkhand ends up stunning everyone with his surprisingly creepy knocks.

Agreed that MS Dhoni takes a few deliveries to get his eye in initially. He makes up for those deliveries more often than not in T20 games and scores at not less than a strike rate of 110 or 120. However, this settling-in process takes too long at times. The CSK captain builds up pressure on the batsmen at the other end and has also been the reason behind his side’s loss on quite a few instances.

Here are three such instances when MS Dhoni’s batting lost his team the match:

1. 8* off 22 balls vs Kolkata Knight Riders – 14 May 2016

This is possibly MS Dhoni’s worst knock ever in the IPL. In 2016, Dhoni was representing the Rising Pune Supergiants. In the game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, RPS won the toss and opt to bat first. Even though the team lost the openers early, George Bailey and Saurabh Tiwary built a good partnership. At 67/2, the team was cruising well.

However, they lost some quick wickets and the skipper of the side walked in when the score was 74/4 with 10.3 overs left in the game. The rain was looming around and MS Dhoni was expected to go hard at the bowlers. RPS would have been out of the playoff race had they lost this game and it was a do-or-die situation.

Dhoni, though, was never able to get going. He found it extremely tough against Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla. He kept fending at deliveries and was unbeaten on 8 off 22 balls before the rain poured in. RPS put up 103/6 in 17.4 overs and KKR had to chase only 66 runs in 9 overs (DLS Method). With Yusuf Pathan going bonkers after the bowlers, the target was chased down in just 5 overs.

2. 31* off 37 balls vs Rajasthan Royals – 19 April 2015

This was yet another knock from Dhoni that raised a lot of questions. While representing CSK, Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. CSK lost three quick wickets early on in the game. They were reduced to 39/3 in 6.2 overs and 65/4 later on. Yet the pitch was a good one to bat on. DJ Bravo, who was promoted up the order went hard after the bowlers.

He scored 62 off just 36 balls in the innings. Dhoni was expected to play the perfect foil to him, at least at the end of the innings. But, he never bothered to go big and could only score an unbeaten 31 off 37 balls at the end of the innings. CSK put up only 156 runs on the board which was at least 20 to 25 runs below par. The Royals chased the target down in just 18.2 overs and won the game by 8 wickets.

3. 41 off 38 balls vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – 22 April 2016

MS Dhoni has got a phenomenal record while playing against the RCB. But for once, he faltered when he played against the Challengers in 2016. In the game at Pune, the RPS skipper won the toss and opted to bowl first. Virat Kohli played a sublime knock and scored 80 off 63 balls. AB de Villiers was destructive at the other end scoring 83 off 46 as RCB finished with 185/3 after 20 overs.

The track was good and RPS was expected to chase this down. RPS lost the wickets of Faf du Plessis and Steve Smith early. Kevin Pietersen walked back into the pavilion retired hurt. Dhoni built a good partnership and was setting himself up for a big chase. The experienced campaigner scored 41 off 38 balls but was dismissed in the 16th over when the score was 120.

Thisara Perera tonked the bowlers all around later on and scored 34 off 13 balls. However, he got out in the 19th over and the team fell short of the target by 13 runs. Had Dhoni showed some intent and scored runs more quickly during his knock, RPS would have got over the line comfortably.

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