Dhoni: Identifying our death bowler is the only thing we’re worried about

James Richardson
MS Dhoni of the Chennai Superkings during match thirty five of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2018 (IPL 2018) between the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Banaglore held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium, Pune on the 5th May 2018. Photo by: Luke Walker /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni is desperate to find someone to take on the death bowler role as the teamn continues it’s role to the the playoffs.

The Super Kings were impressive throughout most of the clash against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune on Saturday but failed to close out their opponents innings the way they would have liked.

Despite reducing RCB to 89 for 9 they could not remove the final pair and Tim Southee spanked 36 runs to give the visitors a chance.

The Super Kings gave David Willey his IPL debut and he would end with figures of 1/24 but did not bowl at the death with Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo bowling the final two.

Bravo has shown the greatest aptitude for death bowling in the group but Thakur struggled to find the right length offering Southee a raft of half volleys.

Speaking after the match Dhoni said: “Spinners did not have turn and there was uneven bounce as well. So I felt the spinners needed to bowl really well, and that’s where Bhajji paaji [Harbhajan Singh] and Jadeja did well.

“What we’re slightly worried about is the bowling department – if you see the first few games, there was no individual who stepped up and said he could bowl in the death overs.

“Identifying our death bowler before the knockouts is the only thing we’re worried about and that’s why we’re making a few changes.

“We’re playing with multiple bowlers – two spinners and the rest pacers – that takes the pressure off the rest and allows Bravo to bowl at the death. He’s a specialist in the death and doesn’t need to always bowl four overs. There’s pressure on everyone.”

Dhoni praised man of the match Ravindra Jadeja, who took 3 for 18, but called on his bowlers to step up more often.

He added: “In the nine or ten games, no one has consistently shown that they can step up and take responsibility. On surfaces such as these, Jadeja bowls very well. Virat and AB getting out early helped him. But he bowled very well, and so did we as a team.”