Chennai Super Kings fell short by two runs in their chase of 214 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, despite Ayush Mhatre’s 94 and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 77. The loss marked CSK’s ninth defeat of the season, keeping them at the bottom of the table, while RCB moved to the top with playoff qualification in sight.
During the match, MS Dhoni, serving as stand-in captain, displayed frustration with Khaleel Ahmed’s fielding position in the 11th over during Jadeja’s bowling to Virat Kohli.
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Dhoni was heard telling the seamer: “Khaleel, udhar kisi ko fielding kartein dekha hai kabhi (Have you ever seen anyone fielding there)?”
Khaleel Ahmed had a particularly tough day, conceding 32 runs in his first two powerplay overs. His struggles continued in the 19th over when Romario Shepherd hit him for 33 runs, including a six off a no-ball, making it the most expensive over by a CSK bowler in IPL history, surpassing Lungi Ngidi’s previous record against Rajasthan Royals.
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Questions were raised about Dhoni’s decision to use Khaleel for the crucial over instead of Anshul Kamboj, who had bowled well with figures of 3-0-25-0 and had one over remaining.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming defended the decision to persist with Khaleel in the post-match press conference.
“Khaleel has done really well for us this season, so, there’s no reason for MS to have changed that. Kamboj is growing into his role nicely. He has the ability to do death (over bowling). He will be an option going forward, but there was no reason why Khaleel would be replaced to do that,” Fleming stated.
