'If you miss, MS Dhoni is going to make you pay' - Ricky Ponting in awe of CSK skipper's vintage knock against DC

MS Dhoni stepped up for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) when they needed him the most, and scored a 6-ball 18* to help his side beat the Delhi Capitals (DC) and advance to the 2021 IPL final.

And, the Head Coach of the Delhi Capitals (DC) side, Ricky Ponting has heaped praise on the CSK skipper. Labelling Dhoni as one of the all-time greats, Ponting revealed that he knew that Dhoni would come out to bat ahead of Jadeja to cool down the situation.

“Look, I think he has been one of the greats, I don’t think there is any doubt about that, it was a situation tonight where we were thinking will Jadeja come next or will Dhoni come next, and I put my hand straight away and said I am pretty sure Dhoni will come out now and try to ice the game,” said Ricky Ponting in the post-match press conference.

We did not execute as well as we needed to: Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting also added that the Delhi Capitals (DC) side did not execute their plans as well as they wanted to against MS Dhoni. Admitting that Dhoni is a player who will make the opposition pay if they miss their length, Ponting concluded by stating that when MS Dhoni retires from professional cricket, he will be remembered as one of the all-time greats to have played the sport.

“We probably did not execute as well as we needed to, to him in these last couple of overs, and you know that if you miss, he is going to make you pay, and he has done it for a long time now, and our bowlers just missed their areas a little bit and he certainly made us pay. When MS is retired, I think he will be remembered as one of the great finishers that the game has ever seen,” concluded Ricky Ponting.

Ricky Ponting is a legend of Australian cricket. The right-handed batsman represented the kangaroos in 168 Tests, 375 ODIs, and 17 T20Is. While he amassed 13378 runs in the whites, Ponting scored a staggering 13704 runs in ODI cricket. In the T20I format of the game, Ponting plundered 401 runs. The cricket legend played his last international match for Australia in the year 2012.