MS Dhoni has a simple but to-the-point answer on whether he respects Mumbai Indians more

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were going quite strong till the midway of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, winning seven of their first eight games. The only loss was against the Mumbai Indians (MI). MS Dhoni’s side then lost to MI again in their return game at home which is quite unusual given CSK’s track record at home. CSK now have lost three games on the trot against the MI and had last beaten them in the opening game of the IPL last year. In the last seven meetings, the CSK have lost to the MI six times.

The two teams met against each other in the first qualifier in Chennai on Tuesday and the MI again came on the top to restrict CSK to 131 for 4 in 20 overs, thanks to some tight bowling, including by Rahul Chahar who gave just 14 runs in his four overs and took two wickets. It was some brisk hitting from Ambati Rayudu (42 not out off 37) and Dhoni (37 not out off 29) that saw the home team reaching 131 after 20 overs. MI eventually won the game on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s fifty and marched into the final.

Ahead of the high-voltage clash, commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, who accompanied the two captains to the toss, asked Dhoni about his team’s modest record (won 12, lost 16) against MI. Before the Qualifier, Chennai had won only two out of their last six games while Mumbai had lost only two in their last six.

Will be a mistake if you just respect Mumbai

The former cricketer was curious to know if Dhoni gave more respect to Rohit Sharma’s side than any other team since it has dominated the yellow jerseys. In his reply, the ace wicketkeeper-batsman said: “It will be a mistake if we just respect Mumbai – most of the teams are all dangerous. Mumbai is a very balanced side and they have a squad that can do well in all conditions.”

“You try to break down the process into small things. We don’t think too much about the playoffs,” he said.

The @ChennaiIPL win the toss and elect to bat first against the @mipaltan in #Qualifier1 of #VIVOIPL#MIvCSK pic.twitter.com/8bAeWDTCoa

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 7, 2019

CSK now have another chance to feature in the final if they win the Qualifier 2. That will once again bring them up against MI.

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