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IPL 2021 Final: MS Dhoni vs Eoin Morgan, the battle of cricket grandmasters at Dubai

IPL 2021 Final: The 60th match of the IPL 14 will see an intense battle between two leaders, MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings and Eoin Morgan of Kolkata Knight Riders.

MS Dhoni (left] and Eoin Morgan

Dubai, October 15: After 59 matches, several twists and turns the IPL 2021 has closed in on its denouement, Chennai Super Kings facing Kolkata Knight Riders for ultimate glory on Friday. But along with that obvious battle of the teams, we could see a more subtle contest of brains, MS Dhoni vs Eoin Morgan.

It is quite natural for the world to notice that personal confrontation because both Dhoni and Morgan are high profile, World Cup winning captains. But in the IPL 2021, their route has been fascinatingly, uncannily interwoven.

They have soldiered their respective teams with determination in the tournament and their style of captaincy too is similar, maintaining an icy exterior under any circumstances.

Dhoni, who had retired from top level cricket a year ago and with little cricket behind him, has showed that his instincts, pragmatism and the confidence in decisions have not waned one bit. He was not shy of taking some tough calls as the leader.

In the CSK establishment, Suresh Raina does carry a revered place as he has been their one of the most consistent run makers over the years.

But Raina appeared nowhere near his best as a batsman this season, evidenced by his 160 runs from 12 matches at a shade over 17 with one fifty and a strike rate of 125. The lefthanded batsman struggled to force pace or rotate strike in the middle overs, something Raina did too well in his pomp.

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Mind you, CSK are incredibly patient with their players when they go through a trough. Remember how they stood by Shane Watson in the IPL 2018 when the Australian endured a lean run and he repaid the faith with a hundred.

Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming have several times emphasised the importance of giving a long rope to the players, in fact they have described it as a unique feature of the CSK den and a step that offers security to players.

But here, Dhoni chose to replace Raina with Robin Uthappa and the Karnataka batsman produced a crucial 63 in the Qualifier 1 against the Delhi Capitals in the chase of 173.

At the other end of the spectrum, Morgan, still an active cricketer and captain of England in white ball formats, has backed an underwhelming Shubman Gill to the hilt even while the troll gang in social media went up in arms against the youngster. But the opener played two crucial knocks when it mattered the most.

Gill made an 18=ball 29 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator while chasing 139, and a more collected 46 off as many balls against the Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2 in the hunt of 136. Such knocks can make vital difference in small run chases.

Here both Dhoni and Morgan underlined the two crucial aspects of captaincy, finding the right player for the occasion and supporting a player in the hour of need.

However, the job of Morgan was tougher because the Knight Riders started the second phase of IPL 2021 as the seventh placed team and were locked in an intense battle for the fourth slot with three others, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings.

Morgan also had to deal with the hamstring injury to Andre Russell, who missed the action after the tenth match. It might have been a crippling blow as the KKR missed the West Indian on multiple counts, a big hitter who can convert a middling total into a winning one in a matter of balls, and a reliable death over bowler.

But Morgan could find an even more striking parallel with Dhoni in batting. Both of them have seen wretched times with the bat, captaincy shielding their place in the 11. Morgan has made 129 runs from 16 matches (14 innings] and his average is a poor 11.72 and strike rate a more ODI like 98.47.

Dhoni has not fared better either. He has accumulated 114 runs from 15 matches (11 innings] at 16.28 with a strike rate of 106. But the Jharkhand man played an 18 off 6 balls that carried the CSK past DC in the Qualifier 1 and into their 9th final.

In that match, Dhoni has showed the audacity to push himself ahead of an in=form Ravindra Jadeja but on the contrary Morgan has delayed his arrival at the crease often pushing Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan or Nitish Rana ahead of him in acceptance of his modest form.

But both Dhoni and Morgan have not let that affect their captaincy in the tournament, leading their sides with purpose. Irrespective of the outcome of the match, this could be the last time both Dhoni and Morgan, 35, could be wearing the yellow of CSK and the purple of KKR as players.

They will move all their pieces for a victory like two grandmasters tonight, will pose questions to each other through bowling changes, field setting and possible last minute batting order modifications.

We could just be treated to a brilliant tactical war at Dubai. Let's brace for it!

Story first published: Friday, October 15, 2021, 13:19 [IST]
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