Bravo shocker forces Dhoni to lose his cool

51*, 26, 70* - Dhoni’s scores in last three IPL games, that too at a strike rate of over 180, enough to suggest that the former India captain is going through a purple patch. Chennai Super Kings too are at the top of the table with six wins in eight matches. When almost everything is going Dhoni’s way, yet, miraculously, he lost his cool in the middle of the match not once but twice, much to the amazement of everyone.

51*, 26, 70* - Dhoni’s scores in last three IPL games, that too at a strike rate of over 180, enough to suggest that the former India captain is going through a purple patch. Chennai Super Kings too are at the top of the table with six wins in eight matches. When almost everything is going Dhoni’s way, yet, miraculously, he lost his cool in the middle of the match not once but twice, much to the amazement of everyone.

Dhoni always sets high standards for himself and for his side too. Time and again, in the current IPL, he has pointed out CSK’s shortcomings in the field, despite them steamrolling the oppositions match after match. Hence, it was obvious that he would set the same standards for his bowlers and batters too.

While his batsmen have been in terrific form, bowlers have left an area or two of concerns. During the Daredevils’ chase on Monday, the glaring error of one of CSK’s most experienced bowlers – Dwayne Bravo - became too much to handle for even captain cool Dhoni.

Delhi needed 49 off 2 overs when Dhoni threw the ball to Bravo to close the game. Bravo, instead, bowled one of his most expensive overs in the IPL, conceding 21 runs including three sixes that gave Daredevils an outside chance to pull off an improbable win.

That’s when Dhoni lost his cool and was seen gesturing rather animatedly towards Bravo, who was guilty of using way too many slower deliveries against Vijay Shankar.

Shankar had already clobbered Bravo for two successive sixes at the start of the over when the West Indian all-rounder decided to bowl another slower one that fell right in the arc of Shankar. The right-hander used his long handle to deposit it deep into the stands, prompting Dhoni into a rare outburst of emotions.

That was not the first time when Dhoni lost his cool in the match. At the end of the 16^th over, after youngster Asif had conceded 18 runs, Dhoni was seen having an animated discussion with him, trying to convey how he should have stuck to the plan to avoid being hit by Rishabh Pant.

Thankfully for Chennai, Lungi Ngidi did not commit such mistakes and bowled a decent last over to ensure a 13-run victory for the hosts.

Earlier, Dhoni starred with the bat as he hit a 22-ball 51, to take CSK to a mammoth 211. With this quickfire innings, Dhoni also became the captain with most runs in IPL history, surpassing Gambhir in the process.