IPL 2021: Sanjay Manjrekar Recalls 2011 WC Final After MS Dhoni Decides to Bat Ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in Qualifier 1 in Dubai

Dubai: Were you taken back in time by MS Dhoni? The 40-year-old CSK captain rolled back the years as he took his side over the line on Sunday in a tight finish against DC to enter the final. Ex-India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was reminded of the 2011 World Cup final, where Dhoni promoted himself up the order to hold Yuvraj Singh back against Muttiah Muralitharan. It paid dividends as India went on to lift the WC crown in Mumbai.

“If you remember, he did this in the 2011 World Cup as well. He promoted himself to maintain the left hand-right hand partnership, because Muralidaran had 8 overs remaining,” Manjrekar said while talking on ESPNCricinfo.

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Dhoni’s six-ball 18 proved to make all the difference. He came in ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and initially that surprised fans, but then Dhoni turned the decision into a masterstroke like he often does. After the game, CSK coach Stephen Fleming admitted that it was the call taken by Dhoni.

“There was a lot of chat. We spoke more in those 20 overs than we have for a long time. There was a lot of technical discussion and maneuvering to try and work out how this was going to unfold. When the captain got looked in his eyes, he said ‘I’ll go’; it’s been well-documented the times that he has done that,” Fleming said.

This would help Dhoni’s confidence which has been low throughout the tournament given his poor run of form.

With the four-wicket win, Chennai became the first team to enter the final of the 2021 IPL edition. This is a big achievement considering they could not make the playoffs in the 2020 edition.