Chennai: There’s a new ‘No. 9’ in town. MS Dhoni has made a career out of being out of the box, but on Friday night at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, he seemed to be stretching things a bit too far.
As wickets fell and CSK kept losing steam in their chase of 197, the fans got more and more impatient. They wanted to see their ‘Thala’ come out and take on the RCB bowlers, but the wait continued. It was only after Ravichandran Ashwin, not exactly a swashbuckler, got out in the 16th over that Dhoni walked in at No. 9, probably the lowest that he has batted in his 18-year IPL career.
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Not that he batted badly. The 16-ball 30* was an indicator that his ability to clear the boundary hasn’t exactly diminished. In fact, it was his late burst of 19 off Krunal Pandya that brought down the margin of defeat to 50. But then, what’s holding him back? Dhoni is apparently “fitter than what he was in the last two years,” when he was playing with a knee injury and a muscle tear, respectively. His wicketkeeping skills are only getting better — the stumping of Phil Salt on Friday was a piece of beauty — but there’s a strange reluctance to go up the order with the bat.
Virender Sehwag was quite critical about his decision to bat No. 9. “What can you do? Even when he was playing for India, he didn’t care much for suggestions to go up the order. Now, it’s probably the fag end of his career, what can you expect?” Sehwag said in a post-match show.
The CSK think-tank, though, has a different take on the issue. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was asked before the first game against Mumbai Indians if there will be a case for a promotion in the batting order for Dhoni. “MSD has been performing a specific role and he is doing that very well. It’s unlikely to change,” he said.
What he meant was that Dhoni is still immensely dangerous at the business end of the innings, where his ability to clear the fence and the fear factor that he generates combine beautifully to bolster the CSK totals. Last year, in those short bursts, Dhoni was batting at a strike-rate of 220.54, and the CSK team wants that same impact this time too.
Even though the legend has maintained his body well, there’s always that gnawing suspicion that too much running between the wickets may just lead to damage of the ageing body that has taken a lot of wear and tear. The IPL is a two-month journey, and the team wants him fully fit when things really get tight at the back-end.
Don’t be surprised if CSK are only three down in the 15th over against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Sunday and Dhoni comes out to bat. “Dhoni has done a good pre-season, working on his hitting and keeping skills,” coach Stephen Fleming said.
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