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Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Sanjay Bangar wants Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni to hang his boots after a disastrous Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season where they are set to finish at the bottom of the points table. Bangar said that it is Dhoni's decision but had he been in his place, he would have made peace with it and drew curtains on his IPL career. The 52-year-old pointed out that even local cricket takes a toll on the body at this age (43), let alone high-voltage IPL games.
"I think at 43 it's very tough to play in that competitive environment. When you're 43, why this competitive environment, even if you go and play some local cricket, you will find how tough it is on the body as well," Bangar said on ESPNCricinfo's Timeout show.
"It all boils down to MS, but if I was MS, I would say 'enough'. 'Okay, I have played whatever I wanted to play, I have looked after the interest of the franchise', if there's any, if that was the motivation. But, you know, you move on.
"By you being there, if you're thinking that the transition will happen fast, there's never an ideal time to pick. So you might as well [make] peace with the fact that, 'okay, even if I leave now, the franchise will develop on its own; it will take a year longer, but I'm not going to be here for the entire cycle'. That's how I would look at MS' position if I was in that position."
Dhoni's slow run in slog overs
On May 20 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Dhoni walked out to bat at no.8 in the 14th over against Rajasthan Royals (RR). After Dewald Brevis' wicket, Dhoni could not help CSK finish well. The wicketkeeper-batter hit just one six in his knock. He managed to score 16 runs from 17 bals. In the final over of the innings, he was dismissed by Akash Madhwal. Not just Dhoni, Shivam Dube struggled in slog overs as well and CSK managed to post a below par total of 187/8. CSK lost to RR by six wickets. They will need to win their next match against table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) by a huge margin to avoid finishing at the bottom of the points table.
Dhoni's IPL 2025 numbers
Took over the captaincy in the absence of an injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dhoni has managed to score 196 runs from 13 innings at an average of 24.50. On a few occassions, he walked out to bat as late as no.9.
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