IPL 2021: "He would know where he stands"- Deep Dasgupta on MS Dhoni batting higher up the order
Deep Dasgupta said MS Dhoni would not be putting himself above anyone else in the Chennai Super Kings batting order if other players were in better form. Dhoni came under the scanner for his 17-ball-18 run knock against the Rajasthan Royals.
CSK went on to register a comfortable 45-run win as Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo's late flourish allowed the three-time title winners to post a competitive 188-run total on the board.
MS Dhoni came in to bat at no.7, ahead of Curran and Bravo against RR. The former Indian skipper once again looked rusty with the bat, but Deep Dasgupta trusts the legend to be selfless in terms of picking the right batting order.
"He (MS Dhoni) is extremely practical and pragmatic. He would know where he stands, and he would know where the others stand. Trust him to take a call; it will not be putting himself above someone else with better form. If you look at the last game, he did not come ahead of Sam Curran. He is extremely practical. He knows what the situation is at the ground level," Dasgupta said on Sports Today.
Adding further, the former India wicketkeeper said:
"I thought they got it (Batting order) right (against RR). It’s not important which number you bat in. According to me, in T20s, only your openers are fixed, and everything else becomes flexible. If your openers get a good start in 7-8 overs, then you need to be flexible. I think CSK can afford to be flexible,” he added.
MS Dhoni didn't score a single half-century in IPL 2020, the first time the wicketkeeper-batsman failed to reach the landmark in a season. The 39-year-old has once again looked out of touch this campaign, but CSK have got off to a decent start, winning two games out of three.
"MS Dhoni will continue to play at the same position" - Pragyan Ojha
The consensus among many experts and fans is that MS Dhoni should look to bat higher up the order given the time he takes to get going these days. However, Pragyan Ojha believes Dhoni will likely continue batting in the lower middle order.
"Everybody knows MS Dhoni. He knows exactly what he has to do. How much ever people say that he has to come up the order, he will continue to play at the same position. He will not come up the order until he feels that at some point in time, his time requires him to come up the order,” Ojha said.
The three-time title winners will be in action next against the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 21. The Knight Riders are coming into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats, and CSK will be keen to pile more pressure on the Kolkata-based franchise.