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Dhoni’s mastermind has made CSK, who could not even look into the playoffs in the last series, enter the finals this time.

Reports that CSK had never beaten Gujarat in either season had left fans somewhat confused before the match began. But once again, Dhoni has proved with his forces that they may have stumbled in the league round but will show a different game in the playoffs.

For all the CSK batsmen who came out to bat in the first half, scoring runs was like threading a rope in the sand. Not only the slow pitch but also the talented Gujarat bowling challenged the CSK batsmen. While the fast bowlers built up with slow balls and back-of-length deliveries, the spinners blocked all scoring options with flat deliveries. The batsmen played as if they were batting in an airtight punch bag with no way to know where the blows would come from.

Conway also added extra pressure to their side. His anchoring roll added weight and threatened to sink the ship. He played very slowly, and to compensate, the people at the other end went for the wrong shot. Many a times luck has been on Gaikwad’s side.

In the second over, Gaekwad lost his wicket on a slow ball bowled by debutant Nalkande. But not only was it a no ball that saved him, but many balls and edges saved Gaekwat. The next two balls flew for boundaries on a rush of adrenaline after recovering from danger. Gaikwat also gave an otherwise slow start in the powerplay. Of the 17 dot balls bowled in the innings, 12 were bowled by Gaikwat. The duo, who usually take good care of the spinners, failed to add big runs in the first ten overs bowled by Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed.

Disappointment for CSK in case of Dube too. His fours off spinners this season are just 3, but 20 sixes. His cameos in the middle overs have been deciding runs. Had his wicket against Gaekwat not been a spin ball, he would have scored runs without much trouble. Rahane, who came next, was used to hitting only balls that had the word pace on them. His forte lies in the practicality of fielding controls within the powerplay. On the other side, Conway, who was settled, tried but couldn’t connect the balls. Rahane, who landed outside his zone, was also unable to add much runs. Four overs dried up as scoreless overs without the ball seeing the boundary line.

In the final over bowled by Shami, the bats of the CSK batsmen came alive with some momentum and 15 runs came rushing in. Along with that, Jadeja and Rayudu’s small rise to their respective parts helped the team’s score reach 172. Of the 85 runs that came in the first 10 overs, only two more runs came in the last ten overs. A slightly unsupportive field is also a reason. However, Dhoni’s captaincy showed that this can be defended.

Gujarat also made a small mistake. It is not wise to train a car driver to drive on the highway. Whether they thought they were hoarding it or dropped it because their cutters were dangerous, the rookie Nalkande was dropped in an important match like the playoffs. It was fine until the out-of-form Yash Dayal was dropped, but a prime-time bowler like Joshua Little came back and dropped Nalkante to replace Shanaka. Hardik Pandya also failed to bowl and this ended up being a bit of a misfire. Nalkande, who was included in 2021 because he was the first to take four wickets in a single over in the domestic competition, made the target a bit higher as he gave away 44 runs in four overs. Had this mistake not been corrected, the result could have changed.

As a batsman during the chase, Dhoni is as adept at planning with precision when chasing high targets as he is at planning to defend a low score on slow pitches as a captain. His plans will be to go ahead not only to Hardik Pandya but also to Nehra, who stands outside the boundary line and strategizes. Are there any wickets that won’t fall if he asks the bowlers what he wants and rolls the dice? It happened in this match as well.

His golden touch of settling into a rhythm and poaching wickets in the powerplay over the last few matches to swing the new ball to Deepak Sahar continued in this match as well. Deekshana’s short off-length delivery also dismissed Hardik Pandya, who started with a boundary with the intention of batting. These two wickets restricted the run-rate to just 41 runs in the powerplay.

From the final over of the powerplay, Dhoni’s pressure on the spinners to avoid scoring runs led to Gujarat’s subsequent mistakes. As Harsha Bhogle pointed out recently, Gujarat were caught precisely at that point in Dhoni’s web of spinners. In 11 – 15 overs, their kingdom started to play at the point where Gujarat lost four wickets.

Jadeja bowled the crucial match-winning spell. The balls have done exactly what his batting failed to do in previous matches. Not only did Jadeja add valuable runs in the first half of the match, he also dismissed Miller and Shanagawa. A good length ball from Jadeja dismisses Shanagawa, who drops early to attack Deekshana. After that, Jadeja also took Miller’s wicket in the over he came to bowl.

In the middle overs, Deepak Sahare made Gill’s wicket, which he couldn’t take in the powerplay, fall with his slow bouncer. Dhoni’s strategy won there too. An over was given to Deepak Sahar for the kill in the middle of the spins and the trap was set by it. As usual, Gill tried to play his favorite pull shot and was caught by Conway.

The turning point was the wicket of Vijay Shankar, who was bowled by Pathirana voids in an over given as a substitute. Likewise, Tushar, who scored 19 runs in the 17th over and made it a costly over, took the wicket of Rashid Khan and darkened the last hope of Gujarat. Dhoni also set the stage for Rashid Khan with a low-void full toss, stopping the fielder at deep point.

In between, Pathirana came to bowl the 16th over. But the field umpires did not allow him to bowl. Immediately, Dhoni was engaged in negotiations with the umpires for a few minutes. What happened in this incident? Read more in this link.

Senapati mis-fielded the second ball of the 17th over and relieved him to be patient on the field. In the next two balls of the same over, the same Senapati was responsible for the run out of Nalkande.

It was seen that the CSK players struggled a bit at every moment but kept on making comebacks. Dhoni’s guidance and the cooperation of the bowlers kept correcting the consequences of their every mistake. That was the reason for the victory by 15 runs.

This is not an unattainable goal for Gujarat. Those who easily cross 200+ score should have predicted the field and played with some patience. Hardik Pandya, who knew the pitch very well, decided not to drop the in-form Vijay Shankar in the one-down, but was tactically not the right decision. Gujarat has started sliding there. The forecast of snow did not materialize and it ended in CSK’s favor, making the team proud to enter the finals for the 10th time.

Dhoni’s captaincy has proved that the CSK bowling unit, which was criticized at the start of the season as an unbalanced three-wheeler, can run on two wheels with the right driver and step into the finals.

This success is due to the way he used the bowlers as the ring master to control the lion. Now there is time to relax a bit until the final round.

Will CSK win the trophy this time? Tell us in the comments!

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