MS Dhoni and KL Rahul
After MS Dhoni's departure from international cricket, all eyes were on him to deliver in the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Since the inception of the IPL, Dhoni has been an indispensable part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), having led them to the title on three occasions.
Labelled as the most consistent franchise of the IPL, CSK were expected to put up an impressive show in the on-going edition too. However, CSK endured a torrid run this season-- much to the disappointment of fans.
The men in yellow managed to register just six wins from their 14 games, finishing seven in the points table. The franchise failed to qualify for playoffs for the first time in their IPL voyage.
To make it worse, Dhoni also had a dismal season with the bat as he managed to score just 200 runs at an average of 25. His captaincy decisions including his demotion down the batting order were also questioned by many cricket experts and fans. Many even felt that Dhoni is going to bid adieu to the CSK contingent. However, the CSK skipper clarified in the last fixture that he's 'definitely not' going to retire from the IPL.
Reacting to Dhoni's form and future with the franchise, India's World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has said that it would be 'impossible' for the CSK stalwart to perform if he plays only in the IPL. According to Kapil, Dhoni should also toil in domestic cricket to regain his form with the bat.
“If Dhoni decides on playing only IPL every year, then it’s impossible for him to perform. It’s not a good thing to talk about age but at his age (39 years), the more he plays, the more his body will be tuned,” Kapil told ‘ABP News’.
“If you don’t play any cricket for 10 months a year and suddenly play IPL, you can see what happened. You can always have a season up or down if you have played so much cricket. It has happened to someone like Chris Gayle also,” added the former India skipper.
“He should go back to first-class cricket (domestic List A and T20) and play there. If someone has achieved so much, the dip in form does affect and it becomes a challenge. Let’s see how he comes out of it,” Kapil further said.
