Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 20 (ANI): Ahead of his side’s final league stage match against the Gujarat Titans (GT), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey spoke on MS Dhoni’s availability for the match, saying that he is not available for the match due to a thumb injury and could feature if the team manages to qualify for the playoffs.
After a setback against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), CSK faces the Gujarat Titans (GT), seated at the second spot in the points table in a must-win clash that would take them to 14 points if they win. If they win, they will have to pray that the other remaining fixtures of the group stage go their way and help them reach the playoffs.
Speaking during the post-match presser, Hussey said, “I can confirm he is not here with the team, but if we do happen to qualify, then he will definitely join back up with the team. He has got a bit of a sore thumb, so it is recovering nicely, but he would not be ready for this match. But hopefully, if we can manage to get through to the playoffs, then hopefully he will be alright.”
On his side’s previous game with SRH, which saw the Men in Orange chase down 181 runs courtesy a sensational fifty from Ishan Kishan, he said that while it was disappointing not being able to finish on their home ground on a high, the team will take its learning, and they have to move on quickly.
“Obviously, it has made it more difficult for us to get through to the top four. Individually, everyone will take a few little learnings from it, but we have to move on quite quickly. We were all very disappointed, obviously, after the match,” he said.
“We were a bit flat in the dressing room. But coach spoke to us about, OK, come on, we have got one more game, one more chance, so we have got to make sure we move on from this very quickly. It is all about our attitude moving forward,” he added.
On a parting note, Hussey said that focus is on putting the “best possible performance” at Ahmedabad.
“As long as we move forward with a really positive, confident attitude, we stick together, we keep smiling, and we have got to make sure we try and put on our best possible performance here in Ahmedabad. That has been the focus, try to move on as quickly as possible and turn up here with the best attitude we can,” he signed off.
Squads:
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Gurjapneet Singh, Akash Madhwal, Zakary Foulkes, MS Dhoni, Matt Henry, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Chahar, Kuldip Yadav, Macneil Noronha, Dian Forrester
Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Prasidh Krishna, Kulwant Khejroliya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Luke Wood, Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar, Ashok Sharma, Connor Esterhuizen. (ANI)
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