Former
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has criticised Chennai Super Kings’ skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni for not promoting himself higher up the batting order during their 16-run
loss against the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.

Dhoni came
out to bat at number seven, behind the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and all-rounders
Kedar Jadhav and the recently-acquired Sam Curran. The former Indian captain joined
South African Faf de Plessis in the 14th over with CSK needing a miracle
as they chased 103 runs from 38 balls.   

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

“I was a
bit surprised to be honest. MS Dhoni batting at number seven? And sending
Gaikwad before him, Sam Curran before him. Makes no sense to me. In fact, you
should be leading from the front. And this is not what you call leading from
the front. Batting at number seven when you’re chasing what, 213 (217)? The
game was over. Faf was probably the lone warrior,” two-time IPL winning captain
Gambhir said during ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out.

“Yes, you
can talk about MS Dhoni’s last over, but it was of no use to be honest. It was
just all personal runs,” Gambhir added.

Dhoni made
a sluggish start in his innings, coming to life only in the last over of the match,
in which he smashed three sixes, although in vain as CSK needed 38 runs to win.

Gamhir questioned
Dhoni’s intent, saying he should have started flourishing his blade towards the
start of the CSK innings to give them a fighting chance.

Also Read: What made ‘Captain Cool’ MS Dhoni lose his temper against Rajasthan Royals?

“There is
nothing wrong if you end up getting out early, at least start leading from the
front, trying to inspire the team as well. What you did in the last over,
probably if you’d done that coming in at No. 4 or 5, alongside Faf, you could
have made a game out of it. But probably there was no such intent to make a
game out of it,” Gambhir said.

Explaining
his decision to bat at number seven, Dhoni said he was experimenting in the early
phase of the tournament by testing Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran’s hard
hitting up the order. He also mentioned his lack of game-time and hence would want to let things take the natural course.

Dhoni was
playing his first competitive match since India’s semi-final loss to New
Zealand in the 2019 ODI World Cup last summer.

Meanwhile, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said it will take a while for everyone to see the finisher that Dhoni is renowned to be.  

Explaining the rationale behind the move to bat him at number seven, the former New Zealand captain said, “MS is a specialist towards the end of the innings, always has been. Curran was there trying to hit and keep us in the game at that point when we were falling behind. He’s got good hitting power like we saw.”