Curran hails ‘genius’ Dhoni

Abu Dhabi, September 20

Sam Curran says he was left “surprised” by “genius” Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s move to send him ahead of himself during the IPL opener between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

The 22-year-old England allrounder played a key role in CSK’s five-wicket victory: After an economical spell with the ball, he scored a quickfire 18 off just six balls. After the dismissal of Ravindra Jadeja for the team’s fourth wicket, Dhoni surprised everyone by sending Curran up the order with 29 needed off 17 balls.

“To be honest, I was very surprised that I went in. He (Dhoni) is a genius and obviously thought something (about sending him before himself),” Curran said at the post-match presentation. “We targeted that over (18th) and I went in with a six or out mentality... Sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Talking about sending Curran at No. 6, Dhoni said it was a message to the bowler that “he’s been sent to do one job”. “Curran... That’s one thing we haven’t done (experimenting, in the past). At some point of time we need to give Jadeja and somebody like Sam to express themselves,” Dhoni said. “This was the ideal way... One leg-spinner, one left-arm spinner. We felt it was ideal to intimidate the bowler, a psychological thing, to say he’s been sent to do one job.”

Picked in place of Dwayne Bravo, who is recovering from an injury, Curran shone with the ball as well. He claimed the wicket of opener Quinton de Kock, registering impressive figures of 1/28 in his four overs.

Curran, who reached the UAE earlier this week along with other England and Australia players after taking part in a limited-overs series at home, also spoke about the change in atmosphere.

“Very different... I have been used to the bubble with the England team. But you are used to seeing big crowds in IPL, so it was different. I haven’t met a lot of the guys, came in a day before and was straight on the bus today. That was a good thing,” he said. — Agencies

Dhoni’s return after 14 months: 0 off 2, ‘genius’ promotion of Curran

The spotlight was on CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday night as he made a return to cricket after 14 months — he last played a competitive match in July last year, when India lost in the World Cup semifinals to England. Dhoni came in to bat in the 19th over, to face Jasprit Bumrah, with CSK needing five off eight balls. He was given out first ball as he tried to hook the ball, but he had missed the ball and the decision was overturned.

He nudged the next ball to midwicket for no run and remained unbeaten on 0 off 2. Later, Sam Curran hailed him as a ‘genius’ for sending him at No. 6. Later Dhoni talked about the cumulative experience of his team. “The experience pays off, everyone talks about it. You get it only after you play a lot of games. 300 ODIs is a dream for anybody to play and when you put an XI on the field, you need a good mix of youngsters and experienced players,” he said. Agencies

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