MS Dhoni should be leading from the front: Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has urged MS Dhoni to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) from the front in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL). In CSK’s second match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah, Dhoni came to bat at number seven when the required-rate had gone above 16. Gambhir didn’t mince any words in saying that Dhoni shouldn’t have hold himself back.

The southpaw said that though Faf du Plessis was finding the boundary, the game was pretty much a lost cause for the Super Kings. The 39-year-old Dhoni started slowly, but hit Tom Curran for three sixes in the 20th over. However, the Delhi-born Gambhir said that those runs in the final over did nothing, but add to Dhoni’s personal tally.

It is MS Dhoni- probably why people don’t talk about it, says Gambhir

“I was a bit surprised, to be honest. MS Dhoni batting at No. 7? And sending Gaikwad before him, Sam Curran before him. Makes no sense to me. In fact, you should be leading from the front. And this is not what you call leading from the front. Batting at number seven when you’re chasing what 217? The game was over. Faf was probably the lone warrior,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.

“Yes, you can talk about MS Dhoni’s last over when he hit three sixes, but it was of no use, to be honest. It was just all personal runs. See, if someone else would have done this, some other captain had batted number seven, he would have got a lot of flak.”

Gambhir said that Dhoni didn’t get criticised for batting down the order due to his colossal stature. Also, he mentioned that by coming lower down, Dhoni isn’t doing any good to his reputation.

“It is MS Dhoni- probably why people don’t talk about it. When you don’t have Suresh Raina, you’re making people believe that Sam Curran is better than you. You’re making people believe that Ruturaj Gaikwad, Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, all these guys, are better than you,” he added.

Even in the match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Dhoni promoted the likes of Curran and Ravindra Jadeja, who both did a fair job, in their five-wicket victory in the opening match. In their second game, CSK lost to the Royals by 16 runs after Steve Smith’s men post a mammoth 216 on the board.