Sanjay Manjrekar Downplays MS Dhoni’s Batting In IPL 2020: MS Dhoni made a solid comeback to professional cricket after a long sabbatical as he led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a convincing 5-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League season opener.
During the match, MS Dhoni made some bold decisions as to the captain of the team by promoting several players including all-rounders Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of himself in the batting order. Though, the decision was criticized at first but later on, it worked like a wonder for the team as Sam Curran gave a stunning performance.
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer and commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar indicated that these are the signs that Dhoni is taking a back seat as a batsman for Dhoni the skipper. He said:
“It was amazing to see Chennai win the first game, a team that thrives on turning pitches put up a brilliant winning performance against Mumbai in the opening act,”
He added:
“I watched Dhoni as captain in that first game where Chennai lost five wickets and Dhoni ended up zero not out after facing just two balls. While more evidence is certainly needed, people should not be surprised if they see Dhoni the batsman take a back seat to allow Dhoni the captain to guide the team’s fortunes,”
In his column for The Times of India, Sanjay Manjrekar also talked about CSK’s first win of the tournament. He wrote:
“Picking Sam Curran, (Lungi) Ngidi in the eleven and then promoting Curran and (Ravindra) Jadeja up the order to make a winning difference are all early signs of this. With a win against Mumbai, who have been their nemesis, Chennai start as clear favourites against Rajasthan,”
Meanwhile, in their second match of IPL 2020 against Rajasthan Royals, MS Dhoni once again promoted other players ahead of him. However, this time Superkings were defeated by the Royals by 16 runs.
