IPL 2023 final: MS Dhoni made tactical error, say experts

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MS Dhoni's lightning-quick stumping in the IPL 2023 final was regarded as one of the moments of the match as the Chennai Super Kings captain took off the bails in 0.12 seconds. However, the master tactician wasn't spot on with his tactics in the CSK vs GT final, reckoned cricket experts.

Former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Simon Doull pointed out that MS Dhoni made a mistake by keeping the last five overs of the Gujarat Titans innings for Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande. Gujarat Titans went on to score a record 214/4 in 20 overs with Sai Sudharsan scoring 96.

70 runs came in the last five overs as Sai Sudharsan scored heavily in the death overs. The southpaw, who scored 36 runs off his first 27 balls, clobbered 60 runs in the next 20 balls at a strike rate of 300.

Simon Doull and Ravi Shastri pointed out that MS Dhoni could have used Moeen Ali for a few overs in the middle over as the skipper made it a bit easier for Sudharsan, who felt comfortable facing both Pathirana and Deshpande.

The remark came at the end of the 16th over as Pathirana was shot for 10 runs, including two boundaries in the over. Deshpande proved to be the most expensive as he gave away 56 runs in his spell of four overs while Pathirana gave away 44 runs in his quota of overs. Pathirana did give his spell some semblance of request by taking two wickets in the final over.

Earlier in the match, Wriddhiman Saha became the oldest player at the age of 38 to hit a half-century in an IPL final. Shubman Gill, who scored three centuries before coming to the final, couldn't score big as he was out at 39 off 20 despite getting dropped at 3 runs.

Skipper Hardik Pandya played his role of finisher well with a knock of 21 runs in 12 balls.