Whether MS Dhoni batted at No.7 or 8 or 9 for Chennai Super Kings on Friday night against Royal Challengers Bengaluru might not have made a difference to the result. The damage was already done, first when CSK were sloppy on the field and later when they crawled through the powerplay losing critical early wickets.
But isn’t it fun to imagine two sixes and four – the 16 runs that he hit in the last over – from Dhoni’s bat, say, in the 14th over bowled by Liam Livingstone when the required rate was around, incidentally, 16 runs-per-over? In a league where the possibilities with the bat have been redefined in the last year, it is an interesting prospect.
But for now, it is firmly in the realm of imagination that CSK will use Dhoni strictly lower down the order, irrespective of the match situation. Against RCB, he played at No.9 for only the second time in his T20 career, while he batted at No.8 in the previous match against Mumbai Indians. The common scenario on both occasions – in wildly contrasting match situations – was that the CSK faithful in Chepauk were celebrating the fact that he just walked out to bat. Thala dharisanam, as it goes these days.
A never ending story 😊
Last over 🤝 MS Dhoni superhits 🔥
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 28, 2025
If it wasn’t evident on the broadcast, the CSK batter being dismissed around Dhoni’s imminent arrival has been met with celebratory cheers. This is the same city that gave an ovation to Pakistan after winning a Test match all those years back, earning the (sometimes overused) moniker of Knowledgeable Chennai Crowd. Now the fans are wildly cheering for the wickets of their own team just so they can get a glimpse of their Thala.
But keep that aside for a minute, perhaps it’s not ideal to expect rationalism in sports fandom. The heart wants what it wants, and sports fans are driven by emotions more than logic. However, what does this situation say about a professional franchise (presumably) harbouring hopes of another title by making logical cricketing decisions that benefit the team?
In IPL 2025 so far, here’s where wicketkeepers have batted: Heinrich Klaasen (SRH, No.5), Quinton de Kock (KKR, opener), Jitesh Sharma (RCB, No.6), Dhruv Jurel (RR, No.5 or 6 – or Sanju Samson, when he is fit again, opener), Ryan Rickelton (MI, opener), Rishabh Pant (LSG, No.4), Abishek Porel (DC, No.3), Jos Buttler (GT, No.3).
Not maximising resources
In the day and age of maximising resources in a T20 batting lineup, no other team is under-utilising the wicketkeeper position more than CSK.
The more frustrating aspect of this is that we are not talking about diminishing skillset, as it tends to happen with players when aging. Hand-eye coordination? Still top-notch, as he has shown with his impeccable glovework, with two sensational stumpings in the first two matches of the season to dismiss key batters of the opposition. His ball-striking ability? Still right up there. His base numbers for IPL 2024 were eye-catching – strike rate of 220.55, 14 fours and 13 sixes that came at a frequency of a boundary every 2.7 balls he faced – although he faced just 73 balls the entire season because he was evidently managing a knee injury.
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But the narrative from the CSK camp this season has been how he has looked the fittest he has in recent seasons. And yet, his role remains the same when CSK’s middle order is screaming for a power-hitter and a right-hander to break the run of lefties.
Dhoni’s last-over hits are the stuff of legends in Indian cricket of course, but over the last couple of years, that is all he has been doing. It worked on occasion last year, like at the Wankhede Stadium when his cameo was a difference-maker against Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians. But on other occasions, it made you wonder what difference he could have made by batting higher up in the order. In Vizag, almost exactly a year ago, he came into bat at No.8 in the 17th over against DC and smashed the ball around when the required rate had ballooned up to 18. It is worth noting that eventually in the season, CSK were knocked out on Net Run Rate.
16-ball 30, on the scoreboard, came at a very healthy strike rate of 187.50 and helped CSK to reduce the margin of defeat to a somewhat reasonable 50. If he had gone hard earlier and gotten out, that might not have happened. Who knows? But the reality is that the decision didn’t give CSK the best chance to force a win. As he brought out the big hits when the match was well and truly over, one of the commentators on air mentioned CSK fans will go home happy despite the result; a chastening home defeat against their close rivals since 2008 that should actually sting. But one cannot help but wonder how long this romanticisation – in the stands and within the franchise – is viable.
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