Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting was in all praise for Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper finished the game and took CSK to the final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Sunday.
Dhoni lit up the Dubai International Cricket Stadium by scoring an unbeaten 6-ball 18 to help his side beat the Delhi Capitals (DC) by four wickets. Terming Dhoni as one of the all-time greats, Ponting said he knew Dhoni would come ahead of Ravindra Jadeja to calm things down in a crunch situation.
“Look, I think he has been one of the greats, I don’t think there is any doubt about that, it was a situation tonight where we were thinking will Jadeja come next or will Dhoni come next, and I put my hand straight away and said I am pretty sure Dhoni will come out now and try to ice the game,” said Ponting in the post-match presser.
Ponting also mentioned that the Capitals did not execute their plans to restrict Dhoni as he is the kind of player who makes the opposition pay if they allow him to capitalise.
The Tasmanian reckoned when the Ranchi-born superstar would retire from professional cricket, he would be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
“We probably did not execute as well as we needed to, to him in these last couple of overs, and you know that if you miss, he is going to make you pay, and he has done it for a long time now, and our bowlers just missed their areas a little bit, and he certainly made us pay. When MS is retired, I think he will be remembered as one of the great finishers that the game has ever seen,” added Ponting.
