MS Dhoni and batting in crunch situation is a love affair that cricket fans have adored over the course of his illustrious career. But on Monday, the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman only looked a pale shadow of his vintage self in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 game against Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium as he recorded one of his slowest innings in his IPL career.
One of the primary reasons behind Chennai's batting dominance this season has been their openers, but Monday was one such instance where both the batters departed early on leaving pressure on the middle-order lineup. Debutant Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali were castled down by the spinners, hence putting pressure on the experienced pair of Ambati Rayudu and Dhoni to set up momentum for Chennai. However, despite the presence of Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur in the dugout, waiting for their opportunity, Dhoni and Rayudu added only a 70-run stand in 64 deliveries to drag Chennai to 136 for five.
Rayudu did take off in the fag end of his innings, smashing five bondaries and two sixes in his knock of 55 runs off 43 balls, however, Dhoni's struggle in IPL 2021 continued as he managed only 18 off 27 without a single boundary and comprising 10 dot balls.
This is Dhoni's slowest innings in his IPL career (SR of 66.67) where he has at least played 25 balls in an innings. His previous slowest innings of 25 balls or more was against Deccan Chargers in 2008 when he scored 23 off 31. This is also the first time in 12 years that Dhoni has failed to register a boundary or a six in his innings where he has at least played 25 balls, the previous being against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 when he scored 28-ball 30.
The knock of 18 runs took Dhoni's tally to 84 runs in nine games this season. His average of 14 and strike rate of 97.7 is the lowest he has registered in any IPL season. Overall, he has hit only nine boundaries in this season, also the lowest for him in a season, going past his previous lowest figure of 23 boundaries in the 2020 season.
