MS Dhoni has to bat a little bit higher in the batting order: Sunil Gavaskar

MS Dhoni and his team Chennai Super Kings’ campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 started on a poor note. While Dhoni failed to get going with the bat, CSK suffered a crushing 7-wicket loss at the hands of Delhi Capitals on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium. While CSK managed to put up a good total of 188 for 7, Dhoni was out for a two-ball duck.

The skipper lost his wicket while trying to pull a short delivery from Avesh Khan. Dhoni, who was playing his first competitive game since IPL 2020, inside edged the ball onto the stumps. It was Dhoni’s first duck in the IPL since 2015. Apart from the wicketkeeper-batsman, Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) and Faf du Plessis (0) failed to deliver too but CSK still managed to cross the 180-run mark thanks to useful contributions from the likes of Suresh Raina (54), Moeen Ali (36), and Sam Curran (34).

CSK, however, failed to do well with the ball. As dew and small boundaries made things tougher, the bowlers cut a sorry figure throughout. DC openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw took the CSK bowlers as they scored blazing fifties. Dhawan scored 85 while Shaw scored 72 as their team beat CSK thrice in a row.

Sunil Gavaskar’s advice for MS Dhoni

Following MS Dhoni’s poor return to action and CSK’s heavy loss, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has a piece of advice for the veteran skipper. Gavaskar believes that Dhoni should bat a little up the order as he needs to guide the youngsters in his team. The former cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Dhoni needs to change his batting position in order to show the way to his teammates.

“I think as far as CSK is concerned, MS Dhoni also has to take a few calls about his batting order. He came down and he thinks maybe he should bat only for the last four-five overs. But I think he also needs to guides the team a little bit. He has a team of youngsters, some of them are pretty young. Even Sam Curran is not too old as far as international cricket is concerned, and he batted so well. So, yes, maybe he looks at having Sam Curran up the batting order at no. 3 or 4 just like he was in the UAE,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“But Dhoni also has to come up the batting order somewhere down the line. Because that is the way he will be able to control it. He was out on the 2nd ball he faced today, that can happen to anybody. But as the tournament progresses, he has to come at a little bit higher, maybe at 6, maybe at 5, and show the way,” he added.