Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has been in good touch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 so far. Although he hasn’t faced too many balls due to his batting position in the CSK lineup, the wicketkeeper batter played some great cameos each time he got the opportunity to bat in the tournament.
Notably, Dhoni bats either at no. 7 or 8 and doesn’t even get the chance to contribute with his batting at times. Something similar happened in the 37th match of the IPL 2023, which saw RR defeat CSK by 32 runs.
Chasing a daunting total of 203 runs, the Chennai-based team couldn’t keep up with the required run rate and eventually ended up losing the match after getting restricted to 170/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Many fans and experts could not digest that Dhoni didn’t come out to bat in the contest as they felt that the 41-year-old cricketer could’ve turned the game in CSK’s favour, provided that he batted above Ravindra Jadeja and Ambai Rayudu.
However, it is noteworthy that Chennai-based franchise’ bowling coach Dwayne Bravo had already revealed the reason why Dhoni doesn’t promote himself up in the batting order. In the pre-match press conference before the RR game, Bravo had said that the CSK skipper is happy with his finishing role and wants to give more exposure to other batters.
“That is the position he has to bat. Everyone is batting higher than him and he takes that responsibility and ownership upon himself to bat lower down the order because the likes of Jadeja, Rayudu, and Dube, he wants to give these guys as many opportunities as possible. He is happy to just play the finishing role,” said Bravo.
CSK have slipped to the third position from the top spot of the IPL 2023 points table after getting thrashed by RR and will next be seen in action on Sunday (April 30) when they face Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
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