New Delhi, India

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Shane Watson is hoping that the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led unit will learn from their mistakes during their 20-run loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) and return to winning ways when they face hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 18 of IPL 2024, on Friday (April 5), in Hyderabad. Watson feels CSK will not be hesitant to promote MS Dhoni up the order after the veteran made a brilliant 16-ball 37* in his side's unsuccessful 192-run chase versus Delhi in match 13, on March 31.

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Chennai were in the hunt during their 192-run chase versus Rishabh Pant & Co. after Ajinkya Rahane gave them a platform with a 30-ball 45. However, the asking rate kept going up and ordinary knocks from Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja as well as Sameer Rizvi's golden duck dented them before Dhoni's blistering cameo. Nonetheless, it was not enough for them to win the game as they ended with 171-6. Following his knock, many believed Chennai missed a trick by sending Dhoni at No. 8, when they needed 72 off 23 balls.

Watson, however, believes that the Yellow Army is one side that learns from its mistakes instantly and, hence, will use Dhoni up the order if the situation arises going ahead after the DC clash.

Ahead of CSK's away game versus SRH, Watson said, "CSK will be learning from the little things that went wrong against Delhi in their last game and make the most of the things that went incredibly well. One thing was Dhoni, the way he batted, coming in late in the game, which will mean that hopefully, he'll move up the order when an opportunity presents itself, because he batted as well as I've seen him for a long time."

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"The lessons that CSK learned, that's the reason why they've been so successful for so long because they'll find out little elements they need to get better, they need to execute better and where they went wrong and they'll learn from that. So they'll be ready to go against Hyderabad," he added.

Dhoni made an impact with the bat in IPL 2023, with useful cameos, and has started in a similar manner this season.

Also read: IPL 2024, Match 18: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings – Match preview and result prediction

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Chennai are in the top 4 at the moment, occupying the third spot and will look to return to winning ways against Hyderabad, against whom they enjoy a solid 14-5 head-to-head record. However, they won't have it easy against Pat Cummins & Co. who started their home run in IPL 2024 by registering the highest team total, 277/3, last week (versus Mumbai Indians).

SRH, on the other hand, are in the seventh spot with one win from three games. They lost their last encounter to Gujarat Titans (GT) by seven wickets.