After Chennai Super Kings registered yet another convincing victory in the IPL 2021 beating SunRisers Hyderabad by seven wickets, fans and experts have only one question in mind as to what has led to the franchise's resurgence in the ongoing edition. When asked about what has changed between now and the last year, CSK skipper MS Dhoni said it was because they have addressed the problems that led to their worst-ever IPL season. Dhoni said that most importantly the "players have taken more responsibility this year" which has led to their remarkable turnaround.
"I think addressing the problem (on what's been different for CSK this year?)," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation, after CSK registered their fifth successive win of the season.
CSK had ensured a dreadful season last year as they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their history. Reflecting on factors that contributed to their poor outing last season, Dhoni said it was not limited to just one factor but a combination of several factors.
"Whenever you start the tournament, you may or may not face issues in playing XI. The earlier you settle the better. Another factor was 5-6 months we were out of cricket. Nothing was allowed. It's not that you could go on your own and practice. That also makes it difficult. Change of quarantine, was slightly longer. Lot of factors," he said, highlighting reasons that affected their game last year.
"Overall if I have to sum it up, the players have taken more responsibility this year. You will be facing adverse things but ultimately it boils down to how each individual rises to the occasion and gives the extra 10 percent for the team," he explained.
CSK dominated SRH for majority of the game on Wednesday. They chased down the 172-run target with great ease in the penultimate over, with nine balls to spare.
Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on a brilliant show with the bat adding over 100 runs for the opening wicket that pushed SRH on the backfooot.
"The batting was superb. But that doesn't mean the bowling was not good. It was a surprisingly good wicket. Whenever we come to Delhi we never expect a wicket like this. It was coming on nicely, there was nothing for the spinners as well. Good thing was there was no dew. Last night we felt 170 was just below par if there's no dew. Brilliant opening partnership," said Dhoni, reflecting on what CSK did right in the game.
CSK's next fixture is against defending champions Mumbai Indians on May 1.