MS Dhoni played a huge role in that: Irfan Pathan lauds CSK's skipper role in their turnaround in IPL 2021
IPL 2021: Irfan Pathan was all praise for Chennai Super Kings' MS Dhoni role in helping his team comeback from a poor IPL 2020 season.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lauded Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni, saying the stalwart played an instrumental role in the team's revival in IPL 2021.
Chennai had a torrid IPL 2020 in the UAE. For the first time in their history, the side failed to make the playoffs as they finished a lowly seventh in the league table.
Come IPL 2021, CSK of the old returned and by the halfway stage of the tournament, they found themselves second in the points table with 10 points from five victories.
Speaking during a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan singled out Dhoni's leadership as one of the main reasons behind CSK's turnaround this year.
"We always talk about the captain. MS Dhoni has a huge role to play in that. There was not much contribution from his batting as his batting is not the same as we used to see in his peak," said Pathan.
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Pathan also heaved praise on the way former India skipper Dhoni used his resources. He promoted England all-rounder Moeen Ali to third and Suresh Raina (who usually walks in at No.3) to No.4. Both moves worked brilliantly as the batsmen scored heavily.
"The inclusion of Moeen Ali made a huge difference. Suresh Raina brought a different flair, indeed his performance was not that good. But MS Dhoni had a huge responsibility on how he manages his troops and he did that very well," added Pathan.
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Three-time champions' bid for a fourth title has come to a sudden halt after the Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone IPL 2021 season on Tuesday with immediate effect due to the Covid-19 crisis in India.
Whether the 14th edition of the cash-rich league is completed later during the year remains to be seen.