When they failed to chase down 203 against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings suffered their third defeat of IPL 2023 in Jaipur. Again, CSK paid the price for their questionable tactics because they relied more on their middle order than on the captain. Despite his prolific form, MS Dhoni has remained low in the batting order, with Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, and Ravindra Jadeja getting more opportunities than him. In a tense chase, last night presented the ideal opportunity for CSK to change things up, but it was not to be. Despite a 46-run stand among Dube and Jadeja, CSK missed the mark by 32 runs.

Fans of CSK were enraged by the loss, and many of them questioned why Dhoni wasn’t sent higher

CSK coach Stephen Fleming and Dwayne Bravo provided interesting responses. The former captain of New Zealand, who has been with the franchise since the beginning, explained that CSK have a set of roles that are assigned to everyone on the team and that it is wrong to change those roles to make exceptions.

“The set roles are very important. (Ajinkya) Rahane has been great for us at No. 3. We don’t mess with things that are going well. It was just today we came up against a team that took the pace off the ball. We couldn’t get any real momentum in the first six overs. Devon Conway, who is in outstanding form, couldn’t get underway. The rhythm of the innings was slow. When we tried to catch the game up, we made mistakes,”

he said during the post-match press conference.

Additionally, Bravo offered his thoughts on the subject, revealing that since this could be Dhoni’s final IPL season, the CSK skipper is content to let the youngsters experience such high-pressure situations. The most encouraging aspect of this outlook is Dube, who started the IPL 2023 with 19 runs off 18 balls and was criticized for it. However, he has since gone on to score 236 runs from eight matches, including three consecutive fifties and a high of 95 runs without being run out against RCB.

“That is the position he has to bat. Everyone is batting higher than him and he takes that responsibility and ownership upon himself to bat lower down the order because the likes of Jadeja, Rayudu, and Dube, he wants to give these guys as many opportunities as possible. He is happy to just play the finishing role,” Bravo had said in a press conference,”

Bravo said.

“The CSK morale is very high, and that has nothing to do with the results. We are a team that is normally very level irrespective of whether we perform well or not. But it is always better when we are doing well. So far, we have started the season on a positive note and we just have to keep the momentum and keep winning cricket games. Tomorrow’s game against RR is going to be a very hard game.”