Generally a smart and astute tactician, however, fans are wondering whether MS Dhoni and CSK made the wrong choice of Impact Player in their opening match in IPL 2023, against Gujarat Titans.
CSK kick-started their IPL 2023 campaign against Hardik Pandya’s side, in Ahmedabad. Ruturaj Gaikwad debunked his initial matches syndrome in the IPL and played a terrific knock – scoring 92 runs off 50 balls to help CSK reach the total of 178 runs, which only seemed par at the mid-game point.
Before the start of Gujarat’s chase, the umpire made the Impact Player introduction signal, and the giant screen in the stadium confirmed that Ambati Rayudu was replaced by pacer Tushar Deshpande.
MS Dhoni’s Impact Player failed to deliver
This was a historic moment in the IPL as Tushar Deshpande became the first player in the history of the tournament to be substituted in as an Impact Player.
However, Tushar Deshpande didn’t have a memorable time with the ball in hand. Roped in as the Impact Player substitute to bowl and make a difference, Tushar Deshpande, playing in only his 8th IPL match across 4 seasons, leaked 51 runs in only 3.2 overs, and took the wicket of half-centurion Shubman Gill, who mistimed his pull straight to deep mid-wicket.
Tushar Deshpande’s economy of 15.3 was significantly the worst economy of all the bowlers on the night across the two teams. Deshpande failed to put any lid on the scoring rate and eventually, CSK lost the game.
Did MS Dhoni made the right choice of Impact Player?
In the hindsight, of course, it feels that MS Dhoni and CSK erred in their decision to have Deshpande.
They had some decent options on the bench. Among pacers, there was Simarjeet Singh, who was even touted to be in the starting XI after Mukesh Choudhary was ruled out. Simarjeet Singh made his IPL debut last year, when he picked 4 wickets in 6 matches, and impressed everyone with his new ball swing bowling.
In his first over itself, Deshpande was smashed for a six and two fours, with GT gaining momentum in their chase, and in his second over, Gill took him down for another four and a six off a free-hit after a no-ball. Perhaps Simarjeet Singh could have done better.
Other options CSK could have used were leg-spinner Prashant Solanki and young fast bowler Akash Singh.
