Dhoni’s entry points in three games in IPL 2025 are 19th over, 16th over, and 16th over, respectively.
MS Dhoni and his batting position have been a major talking point in the last few IPL seasons. The story has continued in a fresh edition. He received ample flak for delaying his entry points in almost every game, leading to questions being asked about his utility.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has confirmed that Dhoni’s body and knees are not as they used to be, so he can’t run for 10 overs. If the situation requires, he will promote himself or back other players to go ahead in other match stages.
“Yeah, it’s a time thing. MS judges it. His body is… his knees aren’t what they used to be. And he’s moving okay, but there’s still an attrition aspect to it. He can’t bat ten overs running full stick. So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game’s in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he’s balancing that.”
Dhoni’s entry points in three games in IPL 2025 are 19th over, 16th over, and 16th over, respectively. He has batted below Ravindra Jadeja in all games. He promoted Ravichandran Ashwin in the RCB clash, as he batted at No.9. The keeper-batter received a lot of flak for waiting so long to arrive when CSK had a chance to win the contest.
Before the IPL 2025 auction, CSK decided to retain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player. This showed that they still feel he is an asset. Their auction planning was also based on his retention, for CSK didn’t buy any genuine and proven hard hitters for slog overs.
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That means they are still heavily reliant on Dhoni to take on the pacers and provide impetus to the innings in the lower order. They have Ravindra Jadeja, but he is not the same hitter anymore. He can’t be trusted to play big shots consistently, as is visible in these three games.
Hence, CSK can’t afford to look beyond MS Dhoni for at least a couple of seasons. They need to play him as a finisher. He is their best bet even at this stage, which shows flaws in their auction planning, and they can’t do anything now.
If Dhoni had to retire, he should have done it before a fresh season. But now that he is here, CSK must back him to come good. It’s not that they have too many options to replace him for this cycle, either.
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