‘As long as Dhoni was at the crease, we knew RPS would win’: Dhawan all praise for former skipper

MS Dhoni scripted another trademark finish for his side on Saturday as Rising Pune Supergiants romped to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune. His unbeaten 61 once again showcased his acumen for finishing games from tough situations.

Understandably, not many were surprised when the former India skipper calmly finished the game off the final delivery of the match. Sunrisers opener and Dhoni’s India teammate Shikhar Dhawan was all praise for the Jharkhand batsman, admitting that even he was certain the match would end in favour of the hosts with Dhoni at the crease.

“Dhoni is an experienced player. He has won games for his team from a tough situation for years. We knew that as long as he was there, RPS would win,” Dhawan said after the game.

Dhawan rued his side’s poor fielding and blamed the dropped catches, including Dhoni’s, for the side’s eventual defeat.

“The two catches we dropped proved costly — in the beginning and then Dhoni’s catch — eventually cost us the game. Still, I believe that our bowlers bowled well — Siddharth [Kaul], Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar], and Siraj. Unfortunately, both catches were dropped off Siraj’s bowling. If we had taken those catches, the result of the match could have been different. But that’s part and parcel of the game,”

Dhoni produced a vintage performance on Saturday. Chasing Sunrisers’ target of 177, Pune had lost a few couple of wickets in quick succession as Sunrisers rallied to pull things back in the middle overs. Pune needed 58 off the last four overs. Dhoni, batting ably with Manoj Tiwary ensured there were no other hiccups along the way and took them over the line.

“It’s always exciting and the heartbeat increases in such close games. But we knew that if Dhoni was there RPS would win. He has done that so many times. Subconsciously, we trust him to do it again,” Dhawan admitted.