MS Dhoni, who stepped down as Chennai Super Kings skipper ahead of IPL 2022, was seen making a pivotal fielding adjustment that eventually led to Virat Kohli’s dismissal during CSK’s clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Dhoni, widely renowned for his shrewd leadership skills, might have handed over the reins to Ravindra Jadeja, but that did not stop the World Cup-winning skipper from swinging into action when Virat Kohli walked out to bat. In a bid to set Kohli up for the short ball, Dhoni was seen immediately asking a fielder to move to the deep square leg region from fine leg,
The tactic panned out just as Dhoni would have expected: on the first ball of the fifth over, bowled by left-armer Mukesh Choudhary, Kohli pulled a short-of-length delivery straight into the hands of the only fielder positioned in the deep on the leg-side, Shivam Dube. “Open acres of land. Finds Shivam Dube, the only fielder,” said commentator Deep Dasgupta on air.
Extended commentary in Hindi points out that there’s no fielder at square leg when Kohli is in, but Dhoni ensures that the fielder stationed at fine leg is moved squarer to get into position. Not long after, the move pays dividends.
RCB eventually went on to lose the game by 23 runs, after CSK scored a mammoth 216-4 in their 20 overs, led by a brilliant 95* from Dube and a 50-ball 88 by Robin Uthappa.
Watch Dhoni’s field setting and Kohli’s dismissal here:
https://twitter.com/VedantSharma_/status/1513930887096070146?t=p8pzdTtdmkrxiivT7q1K7g&s=19
