Eric Simons, the bowling coach for the Chennai Super Kings, stated on Monday that although MS Dhoni has not traveled for the away match against the Delhi Capitals in New Delhi, he is gradually getting better despite not having played a game this season due to a calf injury.
With CSK scheduled to play their tenth game in what has been a lackluster campaign, more than half of the season is over. The 44-year-old Indian legend’s future in the IPL is the subject of intense conjecture, as it has been for every season since his international retirement.
It was scarcely surprising that Dhoni, who has been batting in the nets lately, was the subject of the first question during the pre-match interaction.
“Update on MS Dhoni is way above my pay grade. He’s not with us (in Delhi), but steadily improving. He’ll be ready when he’s ready, and he knows when he’s ready to play,” PTI quoted Simons as saying on the team icon.
Regarding the bowlers’ performance, he was all praise for Anshul Kamboj, who is the joint leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps and has impressed in every aspect of the game.
“Anshul went away. Anshul you see today is not this season, he started last year. The things that we worked on, he went into the domestic season and worked on different angles of approach to the crease to be more accurate with his yorkers in particular. We’ve introduced round the wicket, which is no secret now.
“There’s a lot of nuances to what we’re doing around the wicket that make him particularly effective. He’s picked up wickets and been able to restrict the run rate as well. But I think what it really boils down to is his professionalism, the way that he trains,” Simons said.
“If you stood next to me and watched the way that he trains, the way that he understands what he’s going to do, the simplicity I spoke about, the clarity, I think in the modern game a bowler needs to be clear about what he wants to do. He’s very clear about his tactics, and he’s very clear about what his field setting is. There’s no grey area for him,” added Simons.
CSK is in a must-win position for the remaining five league games after winning four of their last nine games. They gear up for the DC clash having defeated the Mumbai Indians handily. Simons is still optimistic that his team’s current circumstances will allow them to qualify for the playoffs.
“There has become a bit of a gap between the top four and the rest, but we still have our destiny in our own hands and we do know that we can beat any team in the league. So if we keep playing to our potential, there’s no reason why we can’t be on the top of the table. When we play well, we look really unbeatable,” he said.
