Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has heaped praises on the experienced players in his side after they cruised past defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the Indian Premier League, in Abu Dhabi.

Once labelled “The Dads Army” by the media, Chennai have a number of players above the age of 35, including Dhoni, Australia’s Shane Watson, South African Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir.

But Dhoni, who retired from international cricket last month, said that kind of experience would always be an asset to any team, with the perfect side needing the “right mix of youngsters and the experienced players”.

Proving his words true, the Proteas veteran du Plessis amassed an unbeaten 58 to drive Chennai to a five-wicket win, chasing Mumbai’s 162 in Abu Dhabi as the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament started months late because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“What really helps youngsters in (the) IPL is the fact senior cricketers (come) from… different countries and they have their own experience,” said Dhoni.

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“So that way we are blessed to have the senior cricketers who are part of the team.”

The former Indian skipper opined that players who have more than 300 one-day internationals under their belt have ingrained in them a kind of experience that is difficult to accumulate.

“You need a number of years to play those,” said the Indian star.

“And now with three ODIs a series, 300 ODIs is a dream for anybody to play.”

Complementing Du Plessis’ 44-ball stay, 34-year-old Ambati Rayudu hit a match-winning 71 off 48 balls to build a 115-run partnership and help the three-time IPL winners chase the target with four balls to spare.

English all-rounder Sam Curran smashed 18 off six balls after the 22-year-old was surprisingly sent ahead of Dhoni.

But Curran’s exploits have won over Dhoni’s faith.

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“That’s one thing we haven’t done,” Dhoni said, referring to experimenting with the batting order.

“At some point… we need to give (Ravindra) Jadeja and somebody like Sam to express themselves.”

The 53-day cricketing gala is being held in the United Arab Emirates this year because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in India, which has the second-highest number of known infections in the world.