CSK, April 11: Chennai Super Kings could not have asked for a poorer start to their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign as MS Dhoni has been fined Rs 12 lakh for slow over-rate after the 3-time champions lost their season-opener to Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
MS Dhoni was handed the fine by the IPL after CSK failed to complete their quota of overs in the stipulated time, according to the new IPL 2021 Code of Conduct. However, it was their first offence of the season, and thus the former India captain was let go with just a fine.
“As it was his team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Dhoni was fined Rs 12 lakh,” a statement from the IPL read.
The IPL organizers took note of matches slipping beyond the scheduled finish time in the last few seasons and made sure they came up with strict regulations when it came to over-rates.
According to the IPL 2021 Code of Conduct, the minimum over-rate in the 14th season should be 14.1 overs per hour, ignoring the time taken for strategic time-outs. In uninterrupted matches, the BCCI wants teams to finish bowling their quota of 20 overs within 90 minutes.
In fact, CSK bowled only 18.4 overs in their IPL 2021 opener as Delhi Capitals gunned down a 189-run target with 8 balls to spare. CSK’s bowling unit failed to fire as Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw came up with a T20 batting masterclass, stitching a 138-run opening stand in just 13.3 overs.
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Barring Dwayne Bravo, none of the other CSK bowlers managed to conceded at less than 7 runs per over. Dhawan came up with a masterful knock of 85 from just 54 balls while Shaw smashed 72 from just 38 balls.
MS Dhoni and CSK bowlers struggled with the dew that was on offer at the Wankhede Stadium in the late evening. Dhoni pointed out the role of the dew and said teams batting first in Mumbai this season might want to score nothing less than 200.
“The opposition have half an hour in a 7:30 start when the pitch is really tacky and the ball stops a bit, so we need to get 15-20 runs extra to be safe. If we get dew consistently, then 200 will be a must on a pitch like this,” Dhoni said.
