OPINION: MS Dhoni batting at No 9 wasn’t the reason CSK lost, but it was certainly under-utilisation of asset | Ipl News
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. …
