Bollinger’s Fury over Dhoni’s Super Over Choice as Victoria Win

By Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

    The danger in a situation is always that in hindsight, many decisions will be questionable and certainly Chennai Super Kings’ captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, made one that did not go down well with one of his own in the Champions League Twenty20 2010 in South Africa.

   

     Chennai fought their way back in the match against the Victoria Bushrangers despite the Bushrangers captain, David Hussey, trying to win the match singlehandedly. He did get another opportunity, in the Super Over, and this time he made sure, that Chennai were well and truly batted out of the contest.
      However, Dhoni’s choice on the night for the one over eliminator, that of R. Ashwin, raised quite a few eyebrows. While Ashwin has been a man on the rise, the day certainly did not belong to him, not enough to suggest he would be Dhoni’s best bet. Dhoni has always been known to be a bit of a gambler. However, his instincts on the day failed to win the match.

     And the decision was two-fold. Dhoni seemed to have picked the right man for the wrong job. Suresh Raina was the one bowler that Chennai would have thanked had they won the match. That was because he not only slowed down the Bushrangers to a virtually grinding halt by Twenty20 standards but also, stunted them with four wickets. If Dhoni’s gambling should have paid off, if he was not going to go with the man with the reputation for bolstering the bowling attack for Chennai, Doug Bollinger, he should have thrown the ball to Raina.

     Dhoni also had the services of Justin Kemp available, in the batting department. Kemp connected one ball in the final over for maximum, and perhaps the gambler in him should have opted for the towering South African all rounder rather than Suresh Raina who could not get going with the bat on the day. But perhaps it was that decision, the one he made for the twentieth over of the match, that took up  much time and thinking that muddled his mind.

        His explanation about variation is valid, but for a man watching the action closely behind the stumps and watching David Hussey hustling his way, he should have known that apart from Raina, Hussey was not willing to give any one an inch of respect. It seemed set as Ian Chappell spelt doom before the Super over as the decision of the ball moved from Bollinger to Ashwin, stating Hussey was going to pay Chennai pay. He did and how! Just ask Bollinger who stormed off the field and into the dressing room, aggrieved as insult was added to injury.
      

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