MS Dhoni is crestfallen after CSK's heavy defeat, says "too many holes in ship"

Dubai, October 10: MS Dhoni looked nonchalant in the post-match presentation. But the weariness was hard to conceal. The 37-run defeat that Chennai Super Kings suffered to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (October 10) was their fifth in the seven matches in IPL 2020.

The once formidable Chennai Super Kings and Dhoni are now reduced to a rambling bunch and captain Dhoni did not hesitate to accept the mistake. "Too many holes in the ship," he began.

"I think overall you have to look at the combination, how many spinners, the fast bowlers. There's always one spot you can play around. We started with five bowlers, now we have six. But our main worry remains the batting department. In the coming games we'll try to be more expressive. You rather get out in the 16th or 17th over," Dhoni said.

So, where does he think CSK are faltering? "I think the last four overs when we were bowling, we just needed to close it nicely. Batting has been a bit of a worry. We need to do something about it. I think we are better off playing the other way round, playing the bigger shots even if you get out. That is something we can do in the coming games."

Dhoni said the Super Kings batsmen have not adapted well in IPL 2020 and to the challenge the bowlers posed in the tournament, especially between 6th and 14th overs.

"I think it also depends on how you've performed so far in the tournament and our batting has lacked a bit of power from the sixth over onwards. Individuals can get tentative no matter how much confidence you give them. I feel that's where we've not adapted or come up with plans against the bowlers who bowl from the 6th to the 14th over. I always told the players to focus more on the process - when you start thinking about results of the previous game, you put a burden," he said.

Dhoni was equally candid on the performance of bowlers too. "With the bowling we've shown we can restrict the opposition. We're either leaking at the start or in the last four."