IPL 2018: Brad Hodge lavishes praise on MS Dhoni after the game

Kings XI Punjab bowed after the tournament after losing their final game against the Chennai Super Kings. Not many would have thought that Kings XI Punjab won’t make it the playoffs. Especially after winning five games out of six at the start, Punjab was amongst the top teams.

However, things took a drastic turn as they lost their last five games. Speaking of their latest encounter against CSK, their coach Brad Hodge showered a lot of praises for MS Dhoni. He further asserted that the bowlers did a good job and it was the batsmen who were under par.

MS Dhoni is a champion and CSK is a champion team

MS Dhoni’s decision to promote Harbhajan Singh and Deepak Chahar turned out to be a masterstroke. While Bhajji saw off the pacers, Chahar went onto grab the opportunity with both hands. Hodge remarked that they were aware of Dhoni taking such creative decisions and praised him.

“The reality is that MS Dhoni and his side are in a position to be able to pull those moves and have the confidence of doing it. We know that MS would do that sort of creative stuff and that is why he is a champion and that is why he has a champion team.” He was quoted as saying by TOI.

I think we showed great fighting spirit out there

Brad Hodge knew that defending 153 wasn’t going to be easy on this pitch. He conceded that things never went their hand once they collapsed to 16/3. Kings XI Punjab needed to win the game by 53 runs in order to pip the Rajasthan Royals for a playoffs spot.

“It was always going to be a tough ask. Our game plan was to get 200 on board and hopefully try and restrict CSK as best as possible we could. But losing three wickets at 16, the target was probably unrealistic. I think we showed great fighting spirit out there, we did not get over the line but the score was below-par.”

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