Chennai Super Kings is the most consistent franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While they have won three IPL titles, they have reached the playoffs in all the editions they have participated. Along with skipper MS Dhoni, cricketers like Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin played a key role. Meanwhile, Ashwin recently recalled an incident when he let skipper Dhoni down during a super over.
While Ashwin didn’t game a single game in the inaugural edition in 2008, he slowly became the go-to man for MS Dhoni. He had a good season with CSK in 2009 claiming 19 wickets as the Super Kings went on to win the title.
I let MS Dhoni down – Ravichandran Ashwin
However, things didn’t fall as per plan during the following Champions League. Recently, Ravichandran Ashwin recalled an incident where he let down MS Dhoni when during a super over. MS Dhoni, without further discussion, handed the ball to Ashwin which also had some start campaigner to do the job.
“We were playing in South Africa against the Victoria Bushrangers. The game ended in a Super Over. I think I ended up with a wicket, I can’t recall. I think Raina bowled the last over and got us into a Super Over.
We were standing in a huddle, Fleming just ran, there was a quick meet up. As they were all talking, I just put my hand up and said I want to bowl the Super Over. There was Doug Bollinger, there was Murali, but nobody volunteered for that. For me it felt like an opportunity to win a game for the team,” Ashwin told Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin failed to deliver as he conceded 23 runs in that over. David Hussey took him for cleaners in the first ball which unsettled the plans for the young spinner. Meanwhile, with MS Dhoni a man of few words, he didn’t say Ashwin much and mentioned that he should have used the carrom ball.
“I bowled that over, I succumbed to pressure, David Hussey hit me for a six and then I started chasing the over, I started bowling quicker and quicker. I bowled the yorkers and didn’t execute them. You wanted to bowl a Super Over, the man gave you a Super Over, CSK is a team that you wanted to be a part of, you wanted to be a performer and you have pushed your team out of the tournament now,” Ashwin added.
