The Chennai Super Kings captain made a cent precision prediction of SRH batter's stroke and played the most perfect trick with an influential field change.
MS Dhoni’s astute captaincy once again came to the fore during the league stage encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Friday (April 21).
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend showcased his excellent game awareness in the face-off with the 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Dhoni managed to play a big role in helping dismiss Sunrisers’ mighty young overseas recruit Harry Brook, whose forthcoming stroke he could anticipate to perfection and set the field accordingly before the ball went in exactly the same direction.
The great wicketkeeper-batter reinforced his ball knowledge via a caught dismissal that allowed CSK to see the back of the dangerous Brook, who had lit up the IPL 2023 earlier with a pathbreaking century. The fielding tweak involved CSK’s rising young opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Gaikwad grabbed hold of the catch that MS Dhoni could foresee to cent precision and gave CSK perhaps the most critical breakthrough in the first half, making a big difference to the overall context of the match.
The incident is from just prior to Brook’s dismissal on the second ball of the fifth over in the SRH innings. Standing well behind the stumps, MS Dhoni suddenly asked Gaikwad to change his fielding position.
From being positioned infront of the sticks at mid-on, Gaikwad was told by the CSK skipper to shift his post to the gully region.
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Dhoni raised his hand to Gaikwad and asked him to come and stand wide next to the first slip fielder. Facing left-arm pacer Akash Singh, Brook went for a cut shot and guess what, the ball went straight into the hands of the diving Gaikwad.
Rutu was not in the frame before the ball, MS brought him there and bang next ball Brook fall into the trap. Dhoni’s ball knowledge is unreal man 🥵🔥. @MSDhoni #MSD pic.twitter.com/jrSJZuGz71
— 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑨 (@Vidyadhar_R) April 22, 2023
Gaikwad, who wasn’t even in the frame first up, got positioned in exactly the same spot where the batter eventually played his shot.
It was a scenario made possible only through some MS Dhoni genius and the man’s trademark ability to predict and react to the opposition batter’s next move in the game.
