MS Dhoni left a packed Chepauk crowd enthralled final Friday after he smashed three sixes and two boundaries in his fiery cameo of 30* off 16. However the former captain drew criticism after his efforts got here batting at No. 9 for Chennai Super Kings within the match towards Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The chase was nowhere throughout the grasp of Chennai when Dhoni walked out, and regardless of his pyrotechnics, the guests secured a snug win on the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Three days therefore, CSK coach Stephen Fleming responded to the burning query, saying Dhoni is unlikely to make his method out if there are greater than six-seven overs left.
Chatting with the press on Monday after Chennai’s second successive loss in IPL 2025, Fleming revealed that Dhoni’s continued battle with a knee harm, for which he had undergone surgical procedure in 2023, makes him unlikely to bat larger up the order. His batting place will therefore be determined by the match scenario and his health.
“Yeah, it is a time factor,” Fleming mentioned. “MS judges it. His physique is, his knees aren’t what they was once. And he is shifting okay, however there’s nonetheless an attrition side to it. He cannot bat 10 overs operating full stick. So he’ll gauge on the day what he can provide us. If the sport’s within the stability like right this moment, he’ll go just a little bit earlier, and he backs different gamers when different alternatives are up. So he is balancing that.”
Does that imply Dhoni has turn out to be a burden for Chennai? Fleming shortly doused the hearth, saying he stays a big-value participant for the franchise. “I mentioned it final 12 months [as well], he is too invaluable to us – management and wicket-keeping – to throw him in 9, ten overs. He has really by no means completed that. So, look, from round 13-14 overs, he is trying to go relying on who’s in.”
Dhoni batted at No. 7 vs RR
Following the criticism, Dhoni walked out at No. 7 on Sunday within the recreation towards Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati with 54 wanted to win from the ultimate 4.1 overs. Nonetheless, he did not make a distinction within the chase of 183. He struggled to make a begin, particularly towards former CSK spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who conceded solely six runs within the 18th over, earlier than smashing a boundary and a six within the penultimate over towards Tushar Deshpande, one other former CSK participant. He and Jadeja diminished the equation to twenty for the ultimate over, however the former Chennai captain fell sufferer to Sandeep Sharma once more because the guests fell six runs quick.
