Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa recently shared his thoughts about MS Dhoni’s current role with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after their 18-run loss to the Punjab Kings. Uthappa believes that considering how Dhoni is playing lately, he should be batting higher up in the order. In this match, Punjab Kings batted first and scored an impressive 219 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Priyansh Arya was the star of the show with a fantastic century, hitting 103 runs with 7 fours and 9 sixes, marking it as the second-fastest hundred by an Indian in IPL history.
When CSK came to chase down the target, Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway got things off to a good start during the powerplay. But unfortunately, they lost wickets at crucial moments, which slowed down their progress. Dhoni did manage to rattle off 27 runs in just 12 balls, keeping hopes alive until he was dismissed in the final over, leaving CSK with their fourth straight defeat.
Uthappa explained that he doesn’t think Dhoni has any issues with intent. He feels that even outside the IPL, Dhoni has been handing over responsibilities to younger players, helping them understand what lies ahead as CSK starts to rebuild into a team that can contend for the championship again. He noted that while fans would love to see Dhoni batting how he is now, it might actually be better if he does it up the order a bit.
He also gave his take on CSK’s match against Punjab. According to him, the team got off to a fantastic start, scoring around 9.8 or 9.9 runs per over, which is something they can be proud of. But he pointed out that teams can’t afford to let their momentum slip in the middle overs, especially when chasing such a big target. Uthappa mentioned that the team’s performance between the 7th and 12th overs felt pretty flat.
He explained that teams really need to keep the pressure on after the powerplay. Winning that initial phase is important, but controlling the middle overs is what ultimately leads to wins, and CSK fell short there. In the last two overs, they needed to score 42 runs, which is quite a tall order. Uthappa believed that if they had put together a couple of overs where they scored around 15 to 20 runs, they could have made the final target much more manageable, probably around 22 to 25 runs. He was clear that the team just didn’t show enough intent during those critical moments.
Looking ahead, CSK will be gearing up to face the Kolkata Knight Riders at home in Chennai on April 11, and it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust their strategies for that match.
