IPL 2021: "MS Dhoni invests in his players as well as in his own thinking" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has said that MS Dhoni's clear thought process and staunch backing of his players have yielded the talismanic skipper the desired results.

MS Dhoni stuck with Ruturaj Gaikwad as the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) opener for their IPL 2021 encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The right-handed opener came into the match on the back of failures in CSK's last three matches.

While talking about some of CSK's star performers in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra spoke in glowing terms about Gaikwad's knock and lauded MS Dhoni for backing him to the hilt.

"Ruturaj Gaikwad is back because he batted in a very good fashion. The way he was timing the ball it seemed he had not gone anywhere. But he had not scored runs in the first three matches and this is the speciality of MS Dhoni's captaincy, that he invests in his players as well as in his own thinking. If he backs someone, he thinks of backing him a little more. He lets them flower and bloom a little more," said Chopra.

Ruturaj Gaikwad played a blazing 64-run knock off just 42 deliveries and strung together a 115-run opening wicket partnership with Faf du Plessis to lay the foundation for CSK's massive score.

Fafulously Ru-ted the game!#KKRvCSK #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/mALywofdzd

— Chennai Super Kings - Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) April 21, 2021

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"My player of the match is Deepak Chahar" - Aakash Chopra

Deepak Chahar ran through the KKR top order [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra feels Deepak Chahar deserved the Player of the Match award for his match-winning spell in a high-scoring encounter.

"When so many runs are scored, the Player of the Match should be a bowler. My Player of the Match is Deepak Chahar. It is a very simple story, more than 420 runs were scored with sixes and fours everywhere, so Deepak Chahar won the match in the end," said Chopra.

The reputed commentator concluded by saying that Chahar and MS Dhoni sticking to the basics yielded them rich dividends.

"He picked up four wickets. He has taken four wickets in a match twice now and given Man of the Match performances in my opinion. He also gave a lesson to the opposition team to keep things simple and that's what Dhoni does," signed off Aakash Chopra.

Deepak Chahar dismantled the KKR top order by taking four wickets in his first three overs. Although Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins played destructive knocks after that, the Eoin Morgan-led side fell short by 18 runs.

Chahar high on 🔥! #KKRvCSK #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/fb73QSzy1j

— Chennai Super Kings - Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) April 21, 2021