Explained: MS Dhoni’s decision to bat lower down the order

The 13th
edition of the Indian Premier League is in full swing and the fans are being
offered with mouth-watering clashes. One of the reasons that fans were waiting
for the IPL to begin was to see the former India captain MS Dhoni don the
yellow Chennai Super Kings jersey and smash the ball all around the park.
However, Dhoni’s one controversial call with respect to the batting order
during their IPL match against Rajasthan Royals did not sit well with the fans
or cricket analysts.

The premise:

CSK was chasing a
mammoth 217 against RR on Tuesday. The top-order batting failed to make an
impact and the job was left to the middle order. Keeping the target in mind, it
was expected of Dhoni to promote himself up the batting order. However, he sent
Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of him, a move that did not
fit the situation.

Meanwhile, we should
keep in mind that he did the same thing against Mumbai Indians, as well, a move
that proved well for the Chennai-based club.

Dhoni came to bat when
CSK needed more than 16 runs per over to win the match. While Dhoni’s efforts
proved a little too late for his team, Faf du Plessis fought the battle alone
and perished in the process.

Also Read | Rohit Sharma hits 200 IPL sixes, joins elite list of players

Albeit Dhoni did smash
three massive sixes in the last over after a change of bat, the total seemed
steep and remained unconquered.

The justification

“I haven’t batted for
a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help (the situation). Also wanted to try
different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try
different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths,”
Dhoni said.

This is not the first
time Dhoni demoted himself in the batting line up and given chances to youngsters
to step up and perform. If we remember, there have been times when Dhoni used
to come down the line-up and chase daunting totals with ease. However, that was
a younger Dhoni. But we are now witnessing a 39-year-old, who now needs a couple
of more balls to get acclimatised and then go into beast mode.

The reactions

The cricketing fraternity was not impressed by Dhoni’s decision to bat at no.7. The experts
surmised that keeping the mind the huge total, Dhoni should’ve come to bat
earlier.

“I was a bit
surprised, to be honest. MS Dhoni batting at No. 7? And sending [Ruturaj]
Gaikwad before him, Sam Curran before him. Makes no sense to me. In fact, you
should be leading from the front…The game was over. Faf was probably the lone
warrior,” Gautam Gambhir said.

Also Read | ‘Start leading from the front’: Gautam Gambhir on MS Dhoni batting at number seven

“It’s not about
experiments, saying ‘oh it’s early on in the tournament’. Let me tell you, T20
cricket can bite you very, very quickly. You can end up losing five games on
the go very quickly and then you can end up thinking ‘oh my goodness, are we
actually going to get into the finals?’ I am not buying into this nonsense,” Kevin
Pietersen said during a post-match cricket analysis.

The irony

We must not forget one
of the iconic decisions Dhoni took when it comes to him batting upper in the
middle order. The 2011 World Cup, when he came out to bat before Yuvraj Singh.
Finishing with his trademark six and ending the match on 91 not out off 79
balls, Dhoni brought the coveted World Cup back after 28 years.

Cometh the hour cometh
the man.

The final take

Since the tournament
has just started, given the record CSK holds and the way Dhoni operates, it is
safe to assume Dhoni knows what he is doing and has certain plans in place.
With Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh out of the squad and an injured Dwayne Bravo
in the team, Dhoni could be trying various options he can go with.

Also Read | Experimenting with Curran, Jadeja’s hard-hitting: MS Dhoni on not batting higher up the order

If  Dhoni had to bat higher up the order, the viable
option for him would be to bat at four or five. This will not only bring
experience in the middle but also give him plenty of balls, in certain
situations, to get used to and then do what he does best. Blast.

CSK not only have a
plethora of options but a deep, deep batting line-up. The change or rather the
experimentation with the batting line-up might be seen a couple of times more
in the upcoming matches before the former India captain narrows down to one
particular line up.