Last Updated on 1 month ago by Charbel Coorey

MS Dhoni’s batting position has been the talk of the town for the last two seasons in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He only comes to bat in the last 1-2 overs and tries to capitalise on the remaining deliveries. 

While this is the role Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have decided on for him, many people have argued that he should come up the order and bat freely. Indian Test legend Cheteshwar Pujara has now said that he doesn’t see any point in MS Dhoni batting at numbers 8 or 9 and he should come up in the batting order. 

Pujara said on JioHotstar, ‘No other batter can do what Dhoni can in the Chennai Super Kings setup. I don’t see any point in him batting at numbers 8 or 9 considering he can turn any game on his own’. 

He further added that ‘Dhoni has the ability to turn the game from any situation, and he’s hitting sixes when he plays 8-10 deliveries, so imagine what he can do if he plays 25-30 deliveries.’ 

Former Indian legend Anil Kumble said that ‘Dhoni should come to bat in the last four overs where the teams don’t have many overs of spin left.’ 

CSK’s middle-order headaches: Pujara believes Dhoni needs to face more deliveries

This time the Chennai Super Kings have the likes of Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, and even Aman Khan in their ranks alongside Dhoni. They can also play Urvil Patel in the middle order if they want.

It’s going to be a big headache for them as whom to play in the middle order, as they’ve paid big bucks for inexperienced players like Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer, while Sarfaraz Khan also had a blistering season in the last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).

With Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad locked in as their top 3, it’ll be interesting to see what middle-order combination CSK goes for, as Brevis and Dube are the other two locked-in players. It may happen that Dhoni does come out early to bat, or he can continue with his role from the last season.

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