CSK legend MS Dhoni is facing criticism for denying teammate Daryl Mitchell a single in the PBKS vs CSK match on May 1 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. In the first innings, Arshdeep Singh was bowling the final over, Dhoni sliced a low full toss towards deep extra cover. Mitchell ran for a single, but was sent back by Dhoni after nearly reaching the other end.

The star wicketkeeper face a lot of heat for denying his teammate a single. Former cricketer Aakash Chopra pointed out that Dhoni was not batting with a tailender and chose to take the strike.

“In the final over, Dhoni surprisingly declined to take a single run. His batting partner was Daryl Mitchell, who is an accomplished batter, not a tailender like Mustafizur. Despite hitting a six, the runs were insufficient,” Aakash Chopra said.

Dhoni hit a six on the penultimate ball of the over before finally getting dismissed for the first time this season on the final ball for 14 runs off 11 balls. Meanwhile, Mitchell remained unbeaten on 1 run.

Chopra also criticised CSK for their sluggish starts and failure to make most of the fielding constraints during the powerplay

“CSK lost the toss and had to bat first. They got off to their characteristically slow start. Much like an engine needing time to warm up, this team tends to warm up gradually. They scored around 50 runs during the powerplay before losing Ajinkya Rahane soon after,” he continued.

After being put in to bat first, CSK scored a below-par 162/7 against Punjab Kings, with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad once again top-scoring with 62 runs off 48 balls. In reply, Jonny Bairstow (46 off 30) and Rilee Rossouw (43 off 23) led the visitors to victory in 17.5 overs. The loss leaves CSK in the fourth spot in the points table with 10 points from 10 matches. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side will now need to win their remaining four fixtures to qualify for the playoffs.

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