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Sam Curran is a complete cricketer: MS Dhoni | MS Dhoni full of praise for all-rounder Sam Curran | CSK News | Chennai Super Kings News
Chennai Super King’s ‘Dad’s army’ has always been proud of its experienced squad. However, in IPL 2020 the team is heavily relying on one young player who has now got the Captain’s nod too. After yesterday’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, MS Dhoni called Sam Curran a complete cricketer. Whether it is with his bowling or batting, the 22-year-old all-rounder sets the tone correct for the Yellow Army. After winning the toss, Curran came out to bat with Faf du Plessis as an opening batsman and hit 31 runs off 21 balls in the powerplay overs, which set the momentum right for the team.
Sam Curran’s induction into CSK came as a pleasant surprise for the yellow army fans, though coach Stephen Fleming jokes about calling youngsters in CSK as an ‘oxymoron’. “Curran is a complete cricketer for us and you need that seaming allrounder. He strikes the ball nicely, he can bat up the order, he plays spinners well. He can give us those 15-45 runs if you need momentum. I feel as the tournament progresses, he’ll get even more comfortable with death bowling. That’s one of the reasons we kept him away at the death”, Dhoni said in the post-match chat.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat first also helped the team. CSK had pushed Watson down and brought back Curran on the top as he was not getting much balls in the previous matches. Bravo also mentioned how it was a point of discussion among the team members, “We had a different game plan, Sam Curran up the order. It worked and we’re happy. The slower pitch didn’t really mean much [to us] honestly, both teams have to play on it. Few years ago I played at Surrey and had both Curran brothers under my wings. We had a discussion – Sam’s not getting much balls, Jadeja and me, why not send one up? It worked out nicely”, he said.
Sam’s work with the bat has added much more depth in the batting order of CSK and if he keeps doing such splended cameos then it would release some pressure from the middle order which is also their weak point. Fleming also mentioned that he might open for CSK in the coming matches. “In terms of his contribution so far, he has exceeded, I think, [in delivering] what we wanted,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference. “Probably not in his eyes because he’s very competitive. And every time he has had a challenge, he has risen to it. He has been desperate to get in and make a difference with the bat. And I think we saw a glimpse today of what he can potentially do for us in the future. He’s a very good addition for us.”
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
