CSK vs SRH, 46th Match at Pune, IPL, May 01 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Well, that was a very generous interview from Dhoni, eclectic and sounded quite candid. More will be written on that. Today's game was an interesting one, particularly with SRH's batters trying to go big when possible. But the spinners keeping lengths tight and trajectories flat meant the run-flow was stemmed and the target was out of reach. Kudos to Pooran who connected with a few at the end, drop catches helped but unforced errors need to be held on the fielders. That's a bit of a self-note too. Anyway, it was lovely covering these games, hope you enjoyed it too as with the weekend. I am Ekanth, signing off on behalf of my fellow commentator, Hemant Brar, and our scorers, Thilak and Ranjith. Take care, stay safe.

Udit: "That was a management class by Dhoni! Class act he is. "

Lakssman: "Hey Ekanth, can you please clarify what Kane mentioned by saying "losing Nattu" Think he had a niggle midway. At least that's what I suspect.

Roy: "Where are the Dhoni haters ?? " Never thought this was the time to come out...

Ruturaj Gaikwad is POTM: It felt good, better that it came in a win. (On season's form) There will be times when good balls come in and bad luck but with a good support staff you have faith. You have to start from 0, so I do not believe in form. I feel playing pace brings the best out of me. (On facing short balls) I did not expect it. There are some types of balls which bowlers cannot always execute, it's also two off six. So, I know when it's not coming, but I do work on it. I told Devon he can take his time, I know the ground and that runs come along as he plays along.

MS Dhoni, CSK Captain: It was a good score to start off. When you put a score like that, it is slightly easy for the bowlers to defend. I did nothing different, when you're in the same dressing room, you keep saying the same things. it's not like much changes with the change of captain. The target we got was a good one, dew comes in so the bowling needed to be good. It's just that we got a good start and made the most of the early overs with the bat. We needed good bowling after that. The spinners did well after the sixth over when it starting holding a bit, build the required rate in that period. That was key to the win and gave a surplus of runs which we could fall back on. The opposition can get back after a good start even with a chase of 200 but our spinners ensured that was not the case. We have had quite a few good performances with the bat, but we gave 25 off 2 overs and their like with the ball, so the bowlers have to try something different. I have told my bowlers that if bowlers get hit for 4 sixes off the over, two balls are left and something can be done. Not sure everyone buys in with such theories but I think it works. I think Jadeja knew last season he'd be captaining this year. For the first two games, I oversaw his work and let him be later. I insisted he'd take his own decisions and responsibility for them. You cannot spoon-feed everything to them. Once you become captain, it means a lot of demands come in and can affect the player's performance and occupy their mind which I think was the case with him. I think captaincy burdened his prep and performances, it meant he could not go with the bat and ball with the same intensity, we had a deep-midwicket fielder. We have had a lot of drops which we need to improve on. We do not want bowlers to be lost, with the younger bowlers, you need to be with them and tell them about the fields. It's good to see Mukesh come up, you can't get away with things at this level. You need to accept shortcoming too which is key.

DJ: "Have to appreciate the over rate by both the teams, may be experienced captains helped that cause."

Kasun Udana: "That 17th Over by Theekshana made things difficult for Pooran."

Bala: "When will this fixation of chasing stop or will it at all?"

Mukesh Choudhary, 4-0-46-4: When the catch was missed, the runs were high. But what had happened had happened, I tried to go for wickets with the ball and it came off. Taking wickets in the powerplay is the objective, particularly with Bravo not on. He gives support on the field, he did so yesterday in the pre-match plan and that helped. At the end, Dhoni tried told me to bowl in front and avoid no-balls which I managed to do.

Kane Williamson, SRH Captain: It's always a challenge to chase over 200. We had challenges trying to find overs in the first innings too. But they played well. We did not have all the resources going in, and unfortunately did not cross the line. We tried our best to adjust but losing Nattu and Washi was bad. We have to learn to deal with adversity as they can come up anytime. We chased well as the pitch slowed down. We need to touch on things and move on, stay connected with what worked in the first half to comeback by building on performances.

11:05 pm: MS' return to captaincy starts with a win, it was set up by the openers. SRH gave it a good shot with Kane trying to go deep, Abhishek and Pooran did well but the loss of wickets, mainly taken by Mukesh meant it was a target a baker's dozen, as Danny Morrison called it, short. CSK's spinners did well as well. The side is in smiles as it makes the way back.

Gopal : "What Pooran's hitting has done is SRH still remain in top 4 due to NRR. Even in defeat, Pooran's innings remains vital for reducing margin of defeat"

Nick: "I guess Mukesh would have settled for 4 for 22, likely to get those lovely figures mullah-ed by Pooran"

Bhaskara Navulu: "Any chances of CSK qualifying for top 4?" Probably mathematically possible but very unlikely

Suresg: "Almost lost count of drops today. "

38 needed off 6 balls, should be over. That's what six balls are, I say with apologies.

Gyan: "Seriously this review?? I heard the nick even on Cricinfo." The confidence was baffling.

Washi is in despite the webbing injury in his top hand

Karthik : "Pretorius gonna bowl 17th and 19th.. Who's gonna bowl the other two... Mukesh should bowl one over atleast.." Not sure but Mukesh is on, he's on a hattrick as a commentor mentioned earlier.