Since IPL 2023, Dhoni has 265 runs at a strike rate of 203.84 in 23 innings.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) retained MS Dhoni as an uncapped player at INR 4 crores before the IPL 2025 auction. It was a pragmatic move from the team management, given Dhoni might not continue for the whole season.
However, his role has been a major talking point in the last few seasons. His expertise is on the wane, and Dhoni no longer contributes as much as a player should.
Still, he has a lot to offer, especially as a sharp thinker, for he provides valuable inputs to Ruturaj Gaikwad and keeps the wickets. His contribution as a batter has been minimal but impactful.
Since IPL 2023, Dhoni has 265 runs at a strike rate of 203.84 in 23 innings. His balls-per-six ratio of 5.65 shows he makes an impact almost every time.
However, on average, he faces 5.65 deliveries per innings, which is not ideal for a specialist batter who doesn’t bowl. CSK delay his entry point as much as possible and are ready to shuffle too many batting positions to accommodate him for death overs.
60.86% of his innings have come at No.7 or below, and Dhoni has batted in top-six only nine times since 2023. Even those innings in the top six came when other top-order batters batted deep and only a few deliveries were left.
Maybe his waning expertise is a reason behind his minimal use, but he has been playing mainly as a wicketkeeper since he doesn’t face too many balls. He doesn’t play as an impact player either and remains in the main XI for all games.
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Now that MS Dhoni has decided to continue playing for CSK, he should bat higher in the order and face more deliveries than he has been in the previous two editions. He plays in a team that has several consistent top-order batters who will do the job more often than not.
Hence, Dhoni can come at No.6 and face more balls, given he still has ample power against pace. Since 2023, he has a strike rate of 217.30 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 2.97 against fast bowlers.
The decks have mostly been flat and easy for shot-making in the league, so that won’t be an issue. If the team delays his entry point, they won’t be able to extract the most out of Dhoni.
He should be demoted only when the top five have lost their wickets too soon, and someone needs to anchor the innings. That might not be possible for Dhoni at this age, but otherwise, he should contribute as much as possible with the willow.
If we look at the lower-order batters of CSK for the next season, they have MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sam Curran for the final flourish. Jadeja’s hitting abilities have gone down significantly, and now that he has retired from T20Is, those hitting gears will shrink further.
Meanwhile, Sam Curran is not really a power-hitter. While he can play a few big shots, Curran has his issues against express pace and can be contained easily.
That means MS Dhoni needs to do the heavy lifting in the lower order and face as many balls as possible. He must come ahead of these two batters and bat in the top six to do that.
Hence, CSK might also be tempted to use him more than in the previous two seasons. He should be promoted in IPL 2025 and given more game time in the middle, which will eventually help his team.
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