MS Dhoni Should Have Played Like The Dhoni Of Old: Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth, former Indian swashbuckling opener, feels that the gap between the 2019 World Cup final and the 2020 IPL led to a plethora of rustiness creep in the game of Chennai Super Kings skipper, MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni has looked a pale shadow of himself this season. The former swashbuckler hasn’t been able to wind the clock back this year and Srikkanth feels that the 14-month break that MSD took from the game has done a great deal of harm to his batting.

“A lot of time and energy has been spent on discussing Dhoni’s approach as a batsman and strategies he adopted as captain in the ongoing league. The world has come to expect a lot from the veteran and rightly so. His record as a white ball batsman and captain is second to none. In my opinion, the break from the World Cup in 2019 to this IPL allowed some rustiness to creep in. The script could have been different had the tournament happened in April.” Kris Srikkanth wrote in his TOI column.

‘I didn’t really understand why he refused to play the youngsters’- Kris Srikkanth on MS Dhoni

Srikkanth further added that unless a batsman has the greatest of techniques, the best way for any batter to regain his touch is by adopting an aggressive approach, something he thinks that MS Dhoni should have adopted in this IPL.

”I have seen many great batsmen get into a rut and unless you possess the greatest of technique, the best way to come back to form is to take an aggressive approach. Dhoni should have played like the Dhoni of old, where he was fearless and attacking. He never allowed the bowler to dictate terms; unfortunately, he allowed the bowlers to gain an upper hand in almost every innings this season,” he said.

Kris Srikkanth was critical of MS Dhoni’s reluctance to play the youngsters in the side

As far Dhoni’s tactics as captain goes, I didn’t really understand why he refused to play the youngsters in the side. Even before the league started, Chennai were well aware that their first XI was not available. It was a similar situation to the World T20 where Dhoni reaped the rewards for trusting youth,” Srikkanth added.

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