It was the 17th over of Chennai Super Kings chase where the asking rate was shooting up and the crowd was chanting for Dhoni Dhoni, but Devon Conway was still at the crease trying to find the middle of the bat. Conway's stay, however, didn't last much longer as few balls later CSK retired him out but by then, many believed the match had already slipped away.

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Mumbai Indians had done the same a couple of matches ago when they retired out Tilak Varma during a high run chase but that move didn't work well either. CSK tried it with Conway against Punjab Kings, but the timing of their move wasn't right.

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Conway had built solid partnerships — 61 with Rachin Ravindra and 89 with Shivam Dube  but he just couldn’t accelerate when it mattered most. After Dube’s dismissal, with 69 needed off 25 balls, Conway (69 off 49 balls) struggled, managing only 9 runs from 6 balls. That’s when CSK decided to act. But was it too little, too late?

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Former India spinner Piyush Chawla certainly thought so. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut, he pointed out how Conway’s style didn’t suit the moment: “He’s technically strong, doesn’t take many risks. At one point, I felt he just wanted to take it deep. But if you want to take the game deep, you don't want your asking rate to go out of hand.”

Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad admitted that they were hoping Conway would pick up the pace before making the call - “We waited, waited until we thought it was necessary and then we thought, yes, why not change.”

Wasim Jaffer, meanwhile, felt CSK’s hands were tied - “Even Jadeja (who replaced Conway) has his limitations. I don’t think they fully trusted Vijay Shankar either.”

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MS Dhoni did give fans something to cheer about with a sublime 27 off 12 balls. But with Jadeja and Shankar contributing just 11 from 7, CSK fell 18 runs short. 

Coach Stephen Fleming later admitted, “We just lost a bit of momentum through the middle.”

Retiring out a batter is one of T20’s boldest new tools. But as that moment with Ian Bishop showed,a great tactic loses its edge when it’s not used at the right time.