Lack of 'spark' in youngsters led to sticking with experienced players, reveals Dhoni
Oct 20, 2020
Abu Dhabi [UAE], October 20 : Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni said youngsters did not capitalise on the chances they got and lacked the 'spark' in them which forced the team management to go with the experienced players in the playing XI.
Dhoni's remarks came after the team suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Monday. Also, CSK is out of playoff contention as they only have six points from 10 games so far. They have four games left in the season.
"You don't want to chop and change a lot. Because what happens is after three-four-five games you're not sure of anything. You want to give guys a fair go then if they're not performing then you switch and go to someone else and give them a run. Insecurity is something you don't want to prevail in the dressing room. Fair enough, this season we weren't really there," Dhoni said during the post-match presentation via host broadcasters.
"Also there were few chances to the youngsters. Maybe we didn't see the kind of spark that they could've given us to say okay you know push the experienced guys and make space for them. But what this result has done is give those youngsters whatever is left in our league stages," he added.
Batting first, CSK posted a total of 125/5 in the allotted twenty overs. RR chased down the target of 126 with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare. Jos Buttler played a match-winning knock of 70* runs while skipper Steve Smith played an unbeaten inning of 26 runs.
CSK are known to go for experienced players and this season was no different. Youngsters Narayan Jagadeesan and Ruturaj Gaikwad only played one and two matches respectively this season. Jagadeesan, who played against Royal Challengers Bangalore, scored 33 runs in the match.
Gaikwad, on the other hand, managed to score just five runs from the two matches he played. However, some of the CSK's experienced players also failed to impress like Kedar Jadhav, who has scored 62 runs from the eight matches he played.
