Former Indian opener and now a politician Gautam Gambhir believes it would be a good opportunity for Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni to bat at number three or four in the forthcoming IPL. Dhoni has always wanted to bat in the middle order and Gambhir feels it is the right time to do so. With Suresh Raina pulling out of the IPL due to personal reasons, it would make sense if Dhoni would bat at number three or four.
Dhoni’s experience will be vital for Chennai and he is going to hold a key role in the batting order. In fact, we had seen that Dhoni had batted at number four on some occasions in the IPL 2018 and had played an instrumental role in the success of the franchise in that season.
The right-hander had scored 455 runs in 16 matches in the 11th season of the IPL and had batted at the top of his game. Dhoni can bat according to the match situation and he will look to deliver the goods.
There is no doubt that Chennai will dearly miss the services of Suresh Raina, who is the second highest run-getter in the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir said while talking to Star Sports Cricket Connected, “It’ll probably be a good opportunity for MS Dhoni to bat at No. 3. Why not, because he’s always said that he wants to bat at No. 3 or No. 4 – this is an ideal time. He’s been away from the game, and he’ll end up getting a lot more balls to face. He can actually play the anchor role as well.”
If Dhoni will bat in the middle order, players like Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo and Sam Curran will need to take the onus of finishing the innings. Jadhav and Bravo have the experience under their belt and they would need to fill in the big shoes of MS Dhoni, if he goes up the batting order.
MS Dhoni has had great success in the IPL as he has amassed 4432 runs in 190 IPL matches at an impressive average of 42.21 and a blistering strike rate of 137.85.
All the eyes will be on MS Dhoni when he will return to action while leading CSK in the upcoming IPL. The tournament will begin from September 19 in the UAE.
