MS Dhoni's batting position: Experts question CSK, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost their second IPL 2024 match in a row as they went down to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday night (April 5) in Hyderabad.

After SRH won by six wickets with 11 balls to spare. CSK were kept to 165/5 in 20 overs on a slow pitch. In reply, opener Abhishek Sharma’s 12-ball 37 (3x4, 4x6) set a perfect platform for the home to cruise to victory.

The loss has opened the debate again over MS Dhoni’s batting position. When CSK needed to score more runs, Dhoni arrived at the crease only in the last over and faced just two balls.

Dhoni, in the previous match against Delhi, had blasted an unbeaten 16-ball 37 in the run chase but could not take the team home. In that game, the former CSK captain had batted at No. 8. In Hyderabad, Dhoni came in at No. 7.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan and ex-India all-rounder Irfan Pathan have questioned CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and the team management over Dhoni’s batting slot.

“On the back of what he did in the last game, I’m amazed he did not come out to bat earlier. I can't understand why he's been out there for just three balls,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

On X (Twitter), Pathan said Dhoni was the right batsman to face Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat when they were bowling off-cutters.

“Considering off cutter planning in to the pitch and match up against Bhuvi and Unadkat, Dhoni the right hand batsman should have batted up the order in this match vs SRH,” Pathan wrote on his X account.

Speaking after the game, Gaikwad said it was a slow pitch and SRH bowlers bowled well.

“I think to be honest, it was a slow pitch, They bowled well in the back end, kept the game in control, and didn’t allow us to capitalise. I thought we did well in the beginning (of the match), but they came back well later. It was a black soil pitch, so we expected the pitch to be slower, but it became slower and slower, and they used the boundary size well. We conceded too many in the batting Powerplay, one dropped catch and one expensive over. Still, to take them to the 19th over was a great effort.

“I thought anything around 170-175 would've been a good total for us. There was a bit of dew towards the end, but Moeen got the ball to spin even in the 15th-16th over. So I don't think the pitch changed a lot during the course of the game,” he said.