Chennai captain MS Dhoni has asked his top-order batsmen to step up following their second successive defeat in the ongoing 13th edition of the Indian T20 League.
The three-time Indian T20 League champions, Chennai slumped to a hefty 44-run defeat against Delhi on Friday, meaning the team has now won just one of their opening three games of the tournament. DEL, after posting 175/3 on the back of Prithivi Shaw's half-century and Rishabh Pant's quickfire 35, restricted CHE to just 34/2 in the powerplay, meaning that the team needed 142 runs in the final 14 overs. Faf de Plessis and Kedar Jadhav did try to steady the ship, but with both of their openers slowing down the momentum, it was too little too late of the team.
Speaking about his team's performance, Dhoni said that the 'players need to step up' as they now prepare themselves for their next Indian T20 League game against Hyderabad on October 2.
"I don't think it was a good game for us. We are lacking a bit of steam in the batting and that hurts. The run rate keeps on mounting after such slow starts and adds pressure, we need to figure that out. We need to come back with a clearer picture, looking at the combination. There are quite a few things we can think about. We are one batter extra to start off, so the players need to step up," Dhoni said.
He also added that the team's strength- their spinners - are yet to reach their full potentials.
"We need to get better with our lengths, lines and pace. I think the spinners have not come to the party yet. We are bowling good deliveries, but we are giving away the boundary deliveries bit too often," he added.
When asked about dropped catches, Dhoni said: “The players are not used to play under such lights, maybe the trajectory comes in the way. Now that you have said it, this can be an excuse for those dropped catches.”
