Poonam Nath

Matthew Hayden criticizes MS Dhoni's stance on CSK's conservative power strategy

Digital Desk: Matthew Hayden disagrees with MS Dhoni's assertion that CSK must be cautious in their powerplay following their crushing loss to KKR at Chepauk on Friday, April 11.

KKR blasted CSK in front of their home crowd to clinch a comfortable 8-wicket victory, keeping Chennai in the bottom half of the points standings.

CSK scored only 31 runs in their powerplay overs, indicating a conservative approach, which Dhoni defended after the loss. Hayden, speaking to JioHotstar, disagreed with the CSK captain's words, believing that they provided KKR an advantage on the day.

Hayden felt that CSK needed to get into a position where they could lead from the front.

"I truly believed this was a 180-plus wicket. The surface seemed good. It was hard black soil, and you could hear MS Dhoni talking about the power play. Simon Katich asked him a question, and he replied, Look, we have to be conservative. We have to play the entire 20 overs. I disagree. You know, when you're giving out 30 runs. That is exactly what occurred tonight during the powerplay. KKR was sixty. CSK was 30."

"30 is frequently a multiple of 5 times the edge you can afford to give up in an IPL. They are usually four or five runs. KKR's last loss to LSG was by four runs, so it's so big that I believe CSK has moved into a position where they're catching up to the tournament and are leading from the front," Hayden said.

"You get caught if you play catch-up," added Hayden.

Hayden believes CSK's roster contains enough talented players. He believes that if CSK continues to be conservative, players such as Shivam Dube and Dhoni will be put under strain in the back end and forced to play catch-up.

The former Australian opener believes that in such circumstances, a team's chances of being caught are considerable.

"With such players, they are also cutting their smart stats and sharpshooters, like Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni, who is under so much pressure at the back end and has to play catch-up. In my experience, you are not expected to catch up. You get caught if you think that way, and that's exactly what happened in front of us this evening," Hayden explained.

CSK will now travel to Lucknow to face the LSG on April 14.