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MS Dhoni took the bat gauge from the umpire and checked his bat himself. Despite initial difficulty, the umpire allowed him to bat.
MS Dhoni taking his bat through the gauge. (PC: X/screengrab)
In an interesting incident during the Chennai Super Kings (CSK)-Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday (May 3), visiting skipper MS Dhoni was seen taking the bat gauge out of the on-field umpire’s hand and sliding his willow through it himself.
It happened during the 17th over of the second innings, when CSK were chasing 214. Dhoni came out to bat as Dewald Brevis got out to Lungi Ngidi. The on-field umpires brought out the gauge. Dhoni’s bat didn’t seem to go through at first, but then the wicketkeeper-batter took matters into his hands, literally, scraping his bat from it twice. Although it didn’t go cleanly, the umpire gave him a thumbs up and let him bat with it.
Dhoni hit a good six but got out in the final over for 12 (8) and CSK couldn’t finish the chase when 13 runs were needed on the last three balls. Later, he took the blame for the loss, saying that he should have done better with the deliveries he faced.
“When I went into bat, with the kind of deliveries and the runs needed, I felt I should’ve converted a couple more shots to ease the pressure,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation, as quoted by Cricbuzz. “I take the blame. They got off to a good start, in between we pulled it back, but Romario Shepherd was brilliant. Whatever the bowlers bowled, he was able to get maximum runs,” he added.
He also demanded that his bowlers work on their yorkers and execute them better.
“We need to practice more yorkers,” Dhoni said. “More often than not, when the batters start to connect, you have to rely on yorkers. Also the margin of error (yorkers provide) – so if you’re looking for a perfect yorker, if that doesn’t happen, a low full toss is the next best thing. It’s one of the most difficult balls to hit,” the skipper added.
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