Harbhajan Observes Key Change in MS Dhoni’s Batting After Becoming Captain

Harbhajan Singh, former spinner of India, said his former teammate MS Dhoni is "Baahubali" after he orchestrated a successful robbery ending the five-match losing streak of the Chennai Super Kings-the opening match of IPL 2025 where he stole the show localizing Lucknow Super Giants for the five-wicket victory.

Mastermind behind Chennai's revival and return to winning ways in Lucknow was Dhoni. Yes, as he pulled the strings behind stumps to successfully orchestrate his bowlers on the Super Giants, restricting them to 166/7.

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Meanwhile, during the chase of 167 runs, at one point, CSK faced a daunting 56 runs to get in 5 overs after slumping to 111 for 5. As has been accused so much of coming down the order to bat, Dhoni, who has been hampered with criticism, stepped forward to lead his side from the front.

He chalked the plan for CSK victory that went through in its idyllic execution along with Shivam Dube in penning down CSK's losing streak. The ancient 43 bat was not out on 26 runs from 11 balls, crackling with four boundaries and one improbable over-the-head maximum.

"MS Dhoni is Baahubali. We say this because he knows what to do. He came to bat at the right place and at the right time, putting the pressure back on Lucknow. When Dhoni takes the captaincy role, he is completely different. The team under him plays differently," he said on his YouTube channel.

Harbhajan has been captivated by Dhoni's strategic approach and believes that when the Indian superstar takes the captaincy responsibility, he becomes a whole different player.

Tracing those costly mistakes committed during the falling Lucknow by the former ball tweaker, Harbhajan found the first mistake involving holding too long to David Miller in the first innings as guilt against the management of Lucknow.

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"I think the management made a mistake by sending Badoni early and then Abdul Samand while David Miller was present. He (Miller) is a proven match-winner, and he can take the game away from the opposition, but they didn't send him early," he said.

Regarding the second mistake that he pointed out, he said it involved waiving Ravi Bishnoi's last over of the four over quota. Bishnoi was running rampant stopping LSG at 2/18 in three overs. When the equation turned into 56 off 30 balls, Harbhajan believed that LSG captain Rishabh Pant should have used Bishnoi as opposed to interesting his faith in a monotonous pace attack.

"One tactical mistake Pant made was that Bishnoi had one over left. With almost 50 runs required in five overs, Bishnoi should have bowled his over. He used fast bowlers with the tactic of bowling on wide yorker length," he added.

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