Dhoni Calls for Improved IPL Pitches, Criticizes 'Timid' Style of Play

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has called on IPL authorities to prepare more batting-friendly pitches that enable players to play their natural game, pointing out that no team likes to play "timid" cricket.

His comments came against the backdrop of the pitch conditions at Chepauk — a venue that has been a CSK fortress for years but has been a major challenge for the team this season.

CSK managed to end their frustrating five-game losing run with a five-wicket victory over the Lucknow Super Giants. Dhoni’s impactful cameo of 26 off just 11 balls played a crucial role in sealing the win for his team.

"One of the reasons might be that the Chennai wicket is a bit on the slower side. When we have played away from home, the batting unit has performed a bit better. Perhaps we need to play on wickets that are a bit better so that it'll give the batters confidence to play their shots. You don't want to play timid cricket," Dhoni stated after the match.

He continued, "As a bowling unit we've performed well. As a batting unit, we have the potential to do better."

Awarded player of the match, Dhoni emphasized going back to winning ways for rejuvenating team confidence.

"It's nice to win a game. When you're playing a tournament like this, you'd like to win games. Unfortunately the (previous) matches didn't go in our favor for whatever reasons. There can be many reasons. It's nice to have a win on our side. Gives confidence to the entire team and helps us get better in areas we want to get better."

In the meantime, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant, who regained form with a 63-run innings off 49 balls, admitted that he's slowly finding his rhythm.

"I am improving with every single game, but sometimes it doesn't work. Slowly getting into my rhythm, taking every match at a time," he explained.

Pant also explained why Ravi Bishnoi, though their best bowler with 2/18, didn't bowl the last over.

"We spoke with a number of players, but we could not send him (Bishnoi) deeper, that (bowling him in the final over) did not come about today.

"Bowling during the powerplay has troubled us, but we can stem the tide. As a side we are searching for the positives from every and any game."

Looking back on the match situation, Pant conceded that LSG may have come a bit short of a fighting total at the Ekana Stadium.

"We would say that as a team we were 10 to 15 runs short, we were losing wickets whenever the momentum was in our favour. We needed to keep stitching in partnerships. The wicket was slowing down a bit, but we could have scored 15 runs more I feel," he further said.