For the past 2 years, MS Dhoni has been pushing himself lower in the batting order and for this many questions have been asked by fans and cricket experts. In a post-match interview, he mentioned advising his teammates to avoid early dismissals and not to force him to run aiming to simplify everyone’s role. Despite dealing with a knee injury since the beginning of the season, Dhoni continues to participate in the entire match.
Batting coach Mike Hussey revealed that MS Dhoni chooses to bat lower in order as to protect his knee from excessive running between the wickets. Despite battling a knee injury throughout the entire IPL, the renowned wicketkeeper-batsman has consistently taken on the role of the wicketkeeper in every match. He has also played some useful innings for the team while batting at number 8.
Before the match against Delhi Capitals, Hussey said,“I think it’s pretty clear that he likes to come in the last few overs, that’s his plan. It’s been well-documented that his knee has not been 100 percent and he’s trying to get through the matches as best as he can throughout the tournament.”
Despite his injury, the CSK captain has got immense support from the fans wherever he has played. After the match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, Dhoni did a lap of honour for the fans present at MA Chidambaram Stadium. During this, Dhoni was with an ice pack wrapped around his knee while making a round in the stadium.
“So, I think, he doesn’t want to come in the 10th, 11th, or 12th over and have to run those quick doubles all the time, that’s going to put pressure on the knee. He’s trying to delay coming in as long as possible and having that impact late in the innings. He shows a lot of backing and faith in the likes of (Shivam) Dube, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Ajinkya) Rahane and (Ambati) Rayudu to do the job before he comes in,” Hussey added.
