"You Don't Expect": Virender Sehwag's Brutal Take On MS Dhoni's Captaincy In IPL 2023

MS Dhoni is well known for his courageous decisions as skipper and over the years, he has been proven correct in his understanding of the sport. However, the decision to bring Tushar Deshpande as the impact player and handing him the ball for the final over during the IPL 2023 opener between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans did not work in Dhoni's favour. Deshpande ended up conceding 51 runs in four overs and was unable to clinch the win for his side in the final over of the game. Ex-India opener Virender Sehwag weighed in on the decision to favour the youngster over a seasoned player like Moeen Ali and he had an interesting take on Dhoni's captaincy on Friday.

""Had Dhoni used an over from Moeen Ali somewhere in the middle, he may not have needed to go to Tushar Deshpande, who was highly expensive. You don't expect MS Dhoni making such mistakes often, but that's where you could use the risk-and-reward approach of using an off-spinner when right-handers are batting," Sehwag said during an interaction on Cricbuzz.

CSK started their IPL 2023 on a disappointing note as they were beaten by GT by five wickets.

Ex-India cricketer Manoj Tiwary also said that he was surprised by Dhoni's decision to go with Deshpande for the last over and he thought Rajvardhan Hangargekar could have been used differently.

"I was surprised when they gave the impact substitute Tushar Deshpande the new ball. In domestic cricket, he often bowls in the latter phases of the game. I thought maybe they could have given Rajvardhan Hangargekar the new ball," he said.