Questions were raised over MS Dhoni’s form and fitness as he struggled to find the rhythm with the bat in the recently-concluded IPL 2020. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain returned to competitive cricket after a long gap of over a year and found it extremely difficult to get back to his best. He recorded his worst personal season as a batsman and failed to notch up a single fifty in the entire tournament. Dhoni could only manage to score 200 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 116 in what was his worst IPL season with the bat.
Dhoni’s poor show played a major role in his team’s downfall this season as CSK failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in their history. The three-time champions managed only 12 points from 14 games to finish the league stage at the seventh spot on the points table. However, Dhoni confirmed in CSK’s final game of the season that he will be returning to lead the side again in 2021.
‘Definitely not’ – was the CSK’s captain’s response when asked at the toss during CSK’s final league game whether he plans to quit after IPL 2020. Former India wicket-keeper batsman Kiran More recently opined on Dhoni’s decision to carry on in IPL and said the decision to retire from the T20 league should be left entirely on the CSK captain, who has already quit international cricket.
More said Dhoni will have to assess if his body will allow him to continue playing at the highest level next season and there is no one better than himself to answer that question. “It’s up to Dhoni how he feels – mentally and physically. Will his body allow him to play next year? Dhoni himself knows the answer better than others,” More told Times of India.
More backed CSK to come back stronger next season and said winning three titles is no mean feat. With the mega auction looking likely to take place ahead of the next season, CSK will have a lot of work to do in terms of rebuilding their squad.
“In 13 years of time (11 for CSK), you might have one bad year. That’s what happened with CSK. CSK have won titles thrice. We shouldn’t give much importance to CSK’s one bad year. Dhoni is a legend, don’t forget that. Winning three titles is a big record. They (CSK) will go back to the drawing board and sort out their issues,” More said.
