Bowling attack looked better, says MS Dhoni

Dhoni said they made a few changes because they wanted to make sure the first six overs were slightly better because they needed more bowlers in the first six

HYDERABAD: Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni said his bowling attack looked better with more manoeuvrability.

In the post-match briefing after CSK defeated Lucknow Super Giants on Monday night, Dhoni said they made a few changes because they wanted to make sure the first six overs were slightly better because they needed more bowlers in the first six.

“We were actually putting too much pressure on Ash (R Ashwin), he had bowled two overs on wickets that were not doing a lot and the batsmen were just expressing themselves,” Dhoni said.

“We have Noor [Ahmad], who can drop in with one over. I feel this looks like a better attack, there’s more manoeuvrability for the captain. I feel, as a bowling unit, we have done well. As a batting unit, I think we can do even better,” he said.

“We were not getting the kind of starts that we wanted when it came to us as a batting unit and the fall of wickets at the wrong time [has hurt us] to some extent, but one of the reasons could be that the Chennai wicket’s slightly on the slower side,” Dhoni said.

“So, out of the first five or six games that we have played, we have played more games [four out of six] over there,” he said.

“The start of the batting unit has done slightly better when you actually played outside. So, maybe we need to play on wickets that are slightly better, it will give the batsmen the confidence to play their shots because you don’t want to play timid cricket,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni’s advice to his batters to figure out what was their release shot and back themselves and hit that shot. “Don’t pick an option that is not good for that wicket, but at the same time, it’s very important to express [yourself],” he concluded.