'This Is Real Captaincy': Venkatesh Iyer Reveals How 'Cunning' MS Dhoni Planned Dismissal To Prove His Tactical Genius
Venkatesh Iyer recalls an incident during an IPL match between CSK and KKR that left him in awe of MS Dhoni's captaincy.
MS Dhoni left Venkatesh Iyer scratching his head after his tactics to get rid of the Kolkata Knight Riders batter during an away game against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk.
It was the second meeting of IPL 2023 between the two teams and KKR returned with an impressive six-wicket win. Post game, Iyer had a revealing chat with the then CSK captain Dhoni on how the legend planned his dismissal.
related stories
With KKR losing their first wicket in the first over, Iyer walked in to bat at no. 3 and peeled off a couple of boundaries in the third over, bowled by Deepak Chahar.
Dhoni then asked Ravindra Jadeja to move in from deep square leg to short third region.
And voila, Iyer ended up hitting the next delivery straight into the hands of Jadeja to be caught for 9.
“Dhoni took out a fielder from deep square leg and placed him at short third, slightly away from the spot where short third usually is. The (very) next ball, I hit straight into short third’s hands," Venkatesh told ESPNCricinfo.
Iyer was left in awe of Dhoni’s understanding of angles, calling him a proactive captain.
“Post the game I asked Dhoni why he placed that fielder in that spot and he had a proper answer for it. He was trying to understand the impact of the ball from my bat, the angles. His reading of angles is just out of the world, and he knew that if I hit this shot, it has to go in that direction, so he had a fielder put there. This is being proactive. This is real captaincy: understanding what a batter is doing," he said.
“That was the cunning of Dhoni. I could have waited for a couple of balls, but no, the next ball, I hit it there (chuckles) and it just happened. The cameras showed the exact picture of how the field changed and the very next ball I hit there. It is up to the batsman to understand why certain things are being done (on the field)," he added.
KKR splurged a whopping Rs 23.75 crore at the IPL mega auction last year to keep hold of Iyer and thus made him the fourth most expensive buy in the league’s history.
- Location :
- First Published: