Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Chennai Super Kings have a slight advantage in the IPL 2021 final against Kolkata Knight Riders, which will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Manjrekar stated MS Dhoni is better at managing his weaknesses and limitations.

Dhoni has all the experience under his belt and he is known to get the best out of his players. The wicket-keeper batter is mostly phlegmatic under pressure, which has helped him savor great success as a leader in the IPL.

CSK have made it to their ninth IPL final, which goes to show their consitency and they will be looking to come up with a collective effort against KKR. The MS Dhoni-led team won nine out of their 14 matches in the league stage to finish in second place in points table. Subsequently, CSK defeated Delhi Capitals in the first qualifier and they might have an advantage against KKR.

Manjrekar believes MS Dhoni is better than Morgan at managing his resources and CSK will have a better chance.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on his social media handle, “If I have to pick a winner, Chennai have a slight edge, only because of the leadership as Dhoni is better at managing his weaknesses and limitations than Morgan., who also has been a fantastic captain for Kolkata. But between the two, Dhoni is much more adept in managing his resources and limitations.”

On the other hand, Manjrekar believes the Dubai pitch will suit Chennai more than Kolkata. KKR have savored more success in Sharjah as they won all their four matches at the venue. The former batter also advised KKR to bring in Andre Russell in place of Shakib Al Hasan.

​​”The pitch in Dubai will be more suited to Chennai. All the recent success for Kolkata have come on Sharjah pitches so when I look at that team, the only change that’s possible is if the pitch is really flat, they might look to get in Andre Russell and leave Shakib out.” – said Sanjay Manjrekar