At the beginning of IPL 2018, Many thought MS Dhoni’s team were too old to do anything of note but the men in yellow proved that age is just a number by beating SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the IPL 2018 final to clinch their third IPL title. Following the win, MS Dhoni said that age was just a number and fitness of a player mattered a lot more than how old he is.
“We talked a lot about age, but what’s more important is the fitness. (Ambati) Rayudu, at 33, it doesn’t really matter. That’s what more matters more than age. If you ask most captains, they want players who move well on the field. Doesn’t matter if you’re 19-20 years old. We knew our shortcomings, and we were aware of it. If Watson tries to dive, he may injure his hamstring, so we don’t want him to do that. We’ve been aware of these things. Age is just a number, but you have to be very fit,” Dhoni said in after CSK’s 8-wicket win.
“When you’re fielding, you have to adjust your plans, but other than that, our batsmen know their style. And if someone is finding it difficult, you know the incoming batsman won’t have it easy as well. You have to keep in mind that Bhuvi is as deceptive as Rashid, so it’s not only one bowler in their side that could’ve put pressure on us. So, I feel it’s a really good batting effort. But we always had the belief that we had the firepower in the middle overs,” said the former India captain.
This was CSK’s third IPL title and came rather easily against SRH — a team that finished top of the standings after the league stage.
