Where Chennai Super Kings went wrong in IPL final against Mumbai Indians

History can provide lessons, but maybe MS Dhoni believes in the present. Still it made little sense for him to choose to bowl after winning the toss in the Sunday’s final at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

There were two reasons. The last time his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) faced Mumbai Indians (MI) in an IPL final in Kolkata in 2013, they had made a mess of a 149-run target. And they haven’t been batting well in this season.

The latter should have been the biggest factor behind choosing to bat but Mumbai Indians instead were given first use of a pitch that slowed down with every passing over. By the time Dwayne Smith and David Hussey had taken stance to chase, they were finding it difficult to get past the infield. It didn’t look like they had signed up for chasing the highest second highest IPL final score ever. But they were not expected to concede these many runs either.