Lately, MS Dhoni has been batting lower down the order for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. He recently explained that because of a knee injury last season, some of his teammates being in the running for the T20 World Cup, and the guys above him performing well, he hasn’t needed to bat higher.
But during an IPL 2025 match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, sending Dhoni in at No. 9 surprised a lot of former cricketers. CSK was chasing 197 runs and needed 98 off 28 balls when Dhoni came to bat after Ravichandran Ashwin was out for just 11 runs.
Since Dhoni is a much better batter than Ashwin, who is mostly a bowler, fans wondered why they didn’t send him in earlier to help with the net run-rate, even if winning the match seemed tough. Irfan Pathan, a former CSK allrounder, tweeted that having Dhoni bat at No. 9 isn’t the best for the team. Another ex-CSK player, Robin Uthappa, said that Dhoni coming in at that spot didn’t make sense and could’ve helped CSK’s chances.
Dhoni did hit three fours and two sixes, scoring 30 runs off 16 balls, but CSK ended up at 146/8. Aakash Chopra, a former India opener and commentator, suggested that CSK should move Dhoni up in the order to give him more time to make a difference in tough situations. He pointed out that CSK fans love seeing Dhoni hit sixes, but they also want their team to win.
