The second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will finally resume in a couple of days in the UAE and fans just can’t wait for the high-voltage tournament to resume. Ahead of the tournament, former Indian cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Gautam Gambhir reckoned that it is going to be difficult for the CSK skipper MS Dhoni to score runs in the upcoming second-leg of the IPL 2021.
MS Dhoni, who is known for his thunderous and crackling shots and for his finishing abilities, has been lacking in form. He announced his retirement from international cricket last year and since then he hasn’t played any competitive cricket apart from the IPL. In the first leg of the IPL 2021, MS has batted four times so far and in one of the games, he walked out to bat at No. 4.
Talking about MS on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir feels that when a player faces quality bowlers in IPL that too without any match practice, it gets difficult for them to score. He said:
“It’s going to be difficult for him (MS Dhoni), because once you are not playing international cricket. IPL is a very difficult tournament, it is not like CPL and other leagues. IPL is where you face top-quality bowlers,”
He added:
“MS was a player who would’ve actually batted at number 4 or 5 but we’ve seen in the first leg that he normally bats at number 6 or 7. There are times when he’s actually pushed Sam Curran before him as well”
Further, Gambhir said Dhoni is trying to be the mentor of CSK and if the opportunity arrives, he will go and toy with the bowlers. He said:
“MS Dhoni is probably trying to be a mentor and a wicketkeeper, who can lead the side and keep wickets. If the situation comes to a point where he probably has to play 8 or 10 balls, he can just go out there and whack them,”
Meanwhile, the Chennai-based franchise is currently placed second on the points table and will resume the league in UAE against Mumbai Indians on September 19 in Dubai.
