Once again, MS Dhoni did not give a definitive answer whether he will retire or return for another Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The 43-year-old said that he will work on his fitness and then take a call as he has the luxury to choose. As CSK signed off with a thumping 83-run win over current table toppers Gujarat Titans (GT), former India pacer Atul Wassan believes that India's legendary captain Dhoni will return for another season despite criticism even though he is not at 100 per cent.
"Dhoni is CSK, and CSK is Dhoni. CSK could have been doing good or not alongside Dhoni, but he is still recovering money for the franchise. Dhoni knows that his best days are gone, but he is still playing and facing the criticism. It shows how much attached he is to the franchise," Wassan said on the Bails and Banter Show on OTTPlay.
While Wassan was critical of Dhoni playing despite not being fit, he defended him as captain after taking over from an injured Ruturaj Gaikwad. He even compared the CSK team to Zimbabwe and Dhoni to legendary West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd.
"A captain is as good as the team he gets; if I give the Zimbabwe team to Clive Lloyd, he won't be good either. Dhoni's captaincy should be rated based on the team he got; when he had the team in the past, we all know what he did. In my opinion, captaincy is at times overrated," Wassan added.
Despite the big win, CSK finished at the bottom of the points table with 10 losses from 14 games. Their net run rate (NRR) was inferior to Rajasthan Royals (RR) who had 10 losses in the season as well. This is the first time five-time IPL champions CSK finished at the bottom of the points table.
Dhoni's bat remains silent
Dhoni, who was retained for Rs 4 crore as uncapped player, had diminishing returns as well. CSK suffered collapses often this season. From 13 innings, the experienced wicketkeeper-batter scored 196 runs at an average of 24.50. His strike rate was 135.17. In the previous season, he scored just 161 runs from 11 innings but his strike rate was 220.54. The impact of his knocks was more in the previous season.
This is the third time in a row, Dhoni has failed to cross the 200-run mark. The last season where Dhoni was doing well with the bat was in 2019. He scored 416 runs from 12 innings at an average of 83.20.