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Chennai were the losing finalists in the inaugural IPL but this year, in the competition’s second year, the team has stuttered to only one win, with one no-result, from their five matches.
“There are a few areas where we are not working hard enough. Bowling is definitely one of them because, apart from one game, we are getting decent scores,” Dhoni told a news conference after Chennai had lost to the Deccan Chargers by six wickets in Durban on Monday.
“We need to experiment now. On paper we have been using the best bowling line-up that we have for our side.
“But we need to change a few bowlers because we are struggling to execute plans and come up with new ideas and you will definitely see a few changes in the next few games,” Dhoni added.
Chennai made a big splash before the tournament with the signing off England all rounder Andrew Flintoff for a record equaling $1.5m. However, Flintoff played only three matches before a knee injury forced him out of the tournament.
Despite Flintoff’s absence Chennai still boast some of the most destructive hitters in world cricket with the likes of Dhoni and Albie Morkel in their squad.
Chennai also boast the tournament’s leading run-scorer, after Monday’s matches, with recently retired Australia opening batsman Matthew Hayden having scored 215 runs in four matches at an average of 53.75 and a strike-rate of 162.87.
Not surprisingly Dhoni is appreciative of Hayden’s contribution.
“He is a fantastic guy. He is a very aggressive cricketer. He likes to dominate right from the very start and he is enjoying his cricket.
“It is difficult (for opposition bowlers) if you have a batsman like Hayden that plays all around the ground because it is very difficult to plan against him.
“It’s good that he is part of our side. It is really helping us to get those big scores, especially when the middle-order is not really clicking. Hopefully he will carry on in the same way throughout the tournament,” Dhoni said.
While Dhoni felt that Hayden’s presence at the top of Chennai’s order was a plus he made no secret about his unhappiness with his bowling attack.
“We don’t know where exactly to bowl or what plan to execute and that is important because you have international cricketers who are going after you and the wickets are quite good to bat on, especially in the day games.
“There are quite a few areas that we need to work on but hopefully we should be able to recover and rectify those problems,” Dhoni concluded.
The Chennai Super Kings next match in the IPL is a repeat of last year’s final as they meet the Rajasthan Royals at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday in a day/night match.
