Dubai: In all praise for his opponents, Kolkata Knight Riders, who despite being at seventh place in the first leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, came back from behind to reach the final of the tournament, Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that if any team that deserved to win the IPL, it was KKR. However, Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs to win the IPL 2021 trophy.
"Before I start talking about CSK, need to talk about KKR. Difficult to come back and do what they have, if any team deserved to win the IPL, it's KKR. Huge credit to the coaches, team and support staff. The break really helped them," said Dhoni, adding that CSK shuffled their played well and had match winners coming game after game.
"Coming to CSK, we shuffled players. We had match winners coming game after game and doing really well. Every final is special, if you look at stats, we may say we're the most consistent team to lose the final too. I feel it's important to come back strong, especially in the knockouts. Frankly no chats, we don't talk a lot in meetings. It's more one-on-one, our practice sessions are meeting sessions. The moment you get into a team room, it brings about different pressure. Our practice sessions have been good," he said.
"I would love to thank the fans, wherever we've played, even when we were in South Africa, we've always had a good number of CSK fans. That is what you crave for. Thanks to all of them, it feels like we're playing in Chennai. Hopefully we'll be back in Chennai for the fans. Again I've said it before, it depends on BCCI. With two new teams coming in......we have to decide what is good for CSK. It's not about me being there in top-three or four. It's about making a strong core to ensure the franchise doesn't suffer. The core group, we have to have a hard look to see who can contribute for the next 10 years," added Dhoni.
Meanwhile, Stephen Fleming, the title-winning CSK coach said, "We've had a number of finals, but getting across the line is a challenge you want to conquer. There was criticism about the age of our squad but it's rewarding to finish the four-year cycle with the trophy. Experience is important, guys who've been there and done it before add so much. We don't get too deep into analytics and numbers, we go with gut feel and developing relationships with players, it's old-school but it's works for us. The years tick by, we've done work over the years gone by, we've got some great memories. Very proud to have been with one franchise and have success."
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said, ""We are extremely proud of the fight we have shown. The character and fight is trademark. Our owners - Shahrukh, Venky have been absolutely outstanding. Guys fought incredibly hard and performed. Iyer and Gill have been outstanding. Ventakesh is new to this platform. They have been the cornerstone of our batting. Tripathi left everything out there today. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury."
Faf du Plessis, who was Player of the Match said, "That was a great day. I am really grateful for today. It was also my 100th game in the IPL. I have loved my time here. I have done almost 10 years here - two seasons were a bit of a break. No. 4 in the trophy cabinet is really good. Gaikwad is a special talent. Indian cricket is blessed with talent. He is getting better. He's got a super, bright future ahead of him. I have a word with him, but I don't think he needs me."
