Fans of MS Dhoni finally got their wish as he batted at No. 5 for the Chennai Super Kings in their recent IPL match against the Punjab Kings on Tuesday. Dhoni scored 27 runs off 12 balls, but it wasn’t enough to help his team chase down a hefty target of 220 runs, leading to CSK’s fourth loss of the season. Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull raised eyebrows at the team’s reluctance to move Dhoni up the batting order. He pointed out that while Dhoni hit three sixes, the rest of the team only managed five, suggesting he still has plenty of power left. When Dhoni scored 27 off 12 balls while the team was two wickets down, it could’ve made a difference. It’s not his fault,” Doull said on Cricbuzz.
Another talking point was the decision to ‘retire out’ CSK opener Devon Conway. He was the top scorer for CSK with 69 runs off 49 balls but struggled to keep up the run rate, leading the team to replace him with Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja managed only 9 runs off 5 balls, which turned out to be another miss for CSK. Doull commented on this decision, saying, “Conway was scoring at 140 when they needed a strike rate of 190, so retiring him was interesting. It was a bit late for Jadeja to come in and assess the situation.
Whenever asked about why Dhoni doesn’t bat higher, CSK has mentioned concerns over his fitness and ability to bat long innings. In this game, he came in with just over 4 overs left, needing 69 runs for victory.