'Chennai Test Kings were at net practice?' - Virender Sehwag criticises MS Dhoni and Co for their slow batting

Three-time champions Chennai Super Kings continued their woeful run in the on-going IPL 2020 as they suffered their third consecutive defeat on Friday. Chasing the target of 165 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 14 of the tournament, the Chennai side managed to amass 157 on the board as they handed the David Warner-led side a 7-run victory.

The Yellow Army suffered a third loss in succession for the first time since the 2014 season. CSK’s batting unit, which hasn’t been at its best while chasing, has a poor start against SRH too. After losing early wickets, CSK were left reeling 42/4 in the ninth over. Skipper Dhoni (47*) and Ravindra Jadeja (50) tried to spend time in the middle and script a memorable win for their side.

It was a face-off between brains and brawn: Virender Sehwag

But their heroics weren’t enough to help sail CSK off to the shore. Following their defeat, former India opener Virender Sehwag criticised CSK for taking too much time with the bat.

“Yesterday’s match was a face-off between brains and brawn. It was ‘The Rock’ Warner vs ‘Big Brain Gabbar’ Dhoni. They say, both brains and brawn are required to win any battle but yesterday, Hyderabad’s warriors using only brawn demolished Chennai’s strategies,” said Sehwag on his web show ‘Viru Ki Baithak’.

“Chennai’s senior team must have thought that Hyderabad’s top 4 scorers were gone when these 2 youngsters (Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma) came to bat, ‘What could these kids possibly do?’. But these kids were amazing, they cut Chennai down to size.

Chennai, who are known for their cool attitude, turned out to be fools in their own plan. Did Hyderabad win the match or did the Chennai Test Kings think they were at net practice?” added Sehwag.

CSK had the upper hand when the Hyderabad side was 69/4 at one point. But vital knocks from the young duo of Priyam Garg (51*) and Abhishek Sharma (31) steered SRH to a respectable total. In response, CSK succumbed to the asking rate yet again and failed to achieve the target at Dubai.