Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered its biggest defeat at home at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in its 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday.
CSK never got going in the chase of 197 as it kept falling behind in the asking rate.
With CSK needing 117 runs with less than eight overs left, it was the bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who came into bat ahead of wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni at the fall of the sixth wicket.
The 43-year-old Dhoni walked in at no. 9 — only for the second time in his T20 career –, with CSK needing a near-improbable 98 from 28 balls, and finished unbeaten on 30 off 16 deliveries (three fours, two sixes).
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CSK’s strategy to send in Dhoni at the fall of the seventh wicket prompted question marks from several former players and experts.
Reaction to Dhoni’s batting postion
Shane Watson, who played under Dhoni at CSK between 2018 and 2020, said, “This is exactly what CSK fans come to see from Dhoni. I would have absolutely loved to see him come up the order. In my opinion, he should have batted ahead of Ashwin.”
Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle was puzzled at Dhoni’s demotion and took to social media platform X to post, “Dhoni at No. 9?”
Dhoni’s other former CSK teammates, too, shared similar sentiments. Irfan Pathan, posted on X, “I will never be in favour of Dhoni batting at number 9. Not ideal for team.”
Robin Uthappa said, “Dhoni coming at number 9 didn’t make sense at all. Him coming earlier could have helped CSK’s NRR in their campaign this year.”
