Robin Uthappa thinks cricket fans might catch glimpses of MS Dhoni doing what he does best in the next IPL season. He believes Dhoni will bat around No. 7 or 8, which would help him get the most out of the few balls he faces.
Dhoni, who’s now 43, looked ready for IPL 2025 when he was smashing balls all over the place during a Chennai Super Kings practice.
He even hit a helicopter shot off Matheesha Pathirana, sending a fast yorker over the bowler’s head for six!
Uthappa said, I think we’ll see Dhoni’s brilliance because I have a feeling he might bat at number 7 or 8, just like last year. We’ll see him bat between 12 and 20 balls during the season.
When asked if Dhoni might retire after this season, Uthappa wasn’t ready to make any predictions.
I don’t think the passion ever dies. MS’ love for the game is still there. I think his passion for the game keeps him going. At 43, I think he’s got the fastest hands in the world as a wicketkeeper. If you’ve got those skills and the drive to keep going, I don’t think anything should stop you. I wouldn’t be shocked if he retires at the end of the season, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if he plays for another four seasons after this, Uthappa said.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are also returning to T20 for the first time since winning the T20 World Cup last year.
Uthappa thinks both Kohli and Rohit are going to have great seasons.
I don’t think they’ll have any problems coming out and smashing the bowlers. Virat is in good form. He knows the conditions in Bangalore well, so he’s always going to do well there, he said.
Rohit hasn’t been playing up to his potential in the IPL recently, but it seems like things are going his way now. So, I think he might have one of his best seasons, he added.
Teams like Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are going with new captains, Axar Patel and Rajat Patidar, this IPL season.
Uthappa said it’ll be tough for them but thinks they can do it.
Axar will be in a better spot because there are still a lot of familiar faces on the team. It’s kind of the same situation with Rajat, but he’ll have to deal with Kohli being such a big star on the team. He can count on Kohli’s captaincy skills a lot. Rajat is in a good spot to help RCB move forward, and he has done well with leadership in domestic cricket.
Uthappa said Axar and Patidar will have to figure out how to handle their bowlers at the smaller grounds in Bengaluru and Delhi.
The tough part will be playing at home. How do you win in home? Especially in similar places like Delhi and Bangalore — small grounds, high-scoring games, not really a home advantage. They’ll have to come up with a solution for that as leaders. I think that’s one of the biggest things they’ll face.
