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MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir (Source: Twitter)
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MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir (Source: Twitter)Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir were pivotal heroes on the night of the 2011 World Cup. The duo scored 91 and 97 respectively and helped them to chase 275 against Sri Lanka. The rivalry continued in the Indian T20 League as well when they played for Chennai and Kolkata franchises respectively.
It took a new turn when Gambhir would put out a test match field setting whenever Dhoni would pad up and come out to bat. Whenever Dhoni would take guard against the Kolkata team Gambhir would bring his spinners into action and the close-in fielders would be pressed into service.
Fortunately, this tactic would reap rich dividends for Kolkata whenever it was implemented. Robin Uthappa had kept wickets for Kolkata when Gambhir led the side. He revealed why such a tactic was employed against Dhoni. He got to see how it all unfolded in the middle as to how Dhoni was dismissed.
The field was to force him to play a big shot - Robin Uthappa on MS Dhoni
"That question is better directed to Gautam Gambhir than me. I was just a wicketkeeper at that point in time. But I think (it was done) just to put that extra pressure on him. Initially when he comes in to bat, just to force him to play a big shot. It was an in-and-out kind of a field where you had a lot of fielders very close to the bat," Uthappa said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.
As Dhoni went further into his career, batting against spin became his Achilles heel, in the Indian T20 League editions of 2015 and 2016 Gambhir would have 2 slips and 2 fielders at short leg against Dhoni and the bait would be leaving the outfield open. Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla would be used as Gambhir’s weapons to dismiss Dhoni.
"Piyush Chawla was bowling. He is one of the best leg-spinners to have played the IPL and records state as much. He can be a very deceptive bowler. And everyone knows that when MS comes in to bat, he can be a little tentative and Gautam wanted to take advantage of the fact," added Uthappa.