MS Dhoni has been nursing a knee injury and the Chennai Super Kings skipper is not at his peak fitness during the IPL 2023 campaign but he has still found a way to lead his forces and play a finisher’s role in the last couple of overs throughout this season.
While fans of the Yellow Army have been wanting to see ‘Thala’ bat higher up the order and wreak havoc against opposition bowlers, his knee injury means that the 41-year-old has been limited to the role where he comes out to bat in the last couple of overs and add to CSK’s score as much as he can.
On many occasions earlier this season, Dhoni has come out to bat in the final overs, and a similar situation happened against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday at the Chepauk Stadium with CSK reeling at 126/6 when the skipper himself came out to bat.
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The legendary wicketkeeper batter smashed 20 runs in 9 balls at the strike rate of 222, before he was dismissed by Mitchell Marsh.
He would, however, help CSK get to 167 runs against Delhi, and they would eventually go on to win the game by 27 runs.
Speaking after Chennai’s win, head coach Stephen Fleming hinted that Dhoni is likely to continue playing the role that he has so far this season, and fans might as well buckle themselves up for seeing such cameos from the skipper.
“He’s just training a certain way, he knows he’s not going bat for a long time. He concentrated more on the last three overs. He’s not as mobile between the wickets although today he pushed really hard. So, he’s concentrated on really strong hitting practice,” said Fleming, speaking at the post-match press conference.
“You can see the benefits of that. He is just very comfortable being able to play around the ground. We know how good a hitter he is and his access in certain areas is still very strong. That cameo again at the end was valuable in a hard-fought 20 overs,” he added.
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