If CSK batting coach Mike Hussey is to be believed then the chances of MS Dhoni getting promoted up the order in IPL 2024 are slim.
When Shivam Dube was going all guns blazing and Daryl Mitchell was doing his best to keep the scoreboard ticking in an IPL 2024 match against the Gujarat Titans, the cameras turned towards the Chennai Super Kings dugout. Behind the glass doors, MS Dhoni was seen shadow-practising his big hits. Five overs were left in the innings and CSK had as many as seven wickets in the bank including an extra batter. It was an ideal time for a Dhoni show.
The knowledgeable Chepauk crowd sensed that and so did the hero cam of the broadcasters. It was fixed on Dhoni. In between deliveries, the broadcast would switch to that camera where Dhoni was the focus. A big crowd would erupt in anticipation. It’s been almost a year that the world hasn’t seen Dhoni bat in a competitive cricket match. The wait was prolonged when Dhoni didn’t get a chance to come out in the middle to wield his willow in the IPL 2024 opener against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
On Monday, the anticipation kept rising. When Dube, after playing a superb knock of 51 off 23 balls, got out while attempting to deposit Rashid Khan into the stands in the second ball of the 19th over, the Chepauk crowd waited with bated breath for Dhoni to emerge from the dugout. The familiar confident stroll, the authoritative glance and the swag-filled approach to the crease – what a sight it is. Only if the CSK management thought from the heart.
In walked young Sameer Rizvi. There was a collective gasp in Chepauk but the young right-hander made an immediate impression by hitting his first ball in IPL for a six. He smashed another six in the last ball of that over.