Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni demoted himself down the order in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) editions. In IPL 2024, he batted as low as no.8 and scored at a stupendous strike rate of 220.54. Months after IPL 2024, Dhoni revealed that he batted down the order to help his CSK teammates Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube prove their mettle and improve their chances of getting selection in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 squad.
"My thinking was simple- if others are doing their job well, why do I need to come up the order. If you're talking about last year (season) specifically, the T20 World Cup squad was going to be announced soon. So we have to give people who are fighting for a spot a chance. In our team (CSK), we had a few, [Ravindra] Jadeja was there, Shivam Dube was there, so you give them an opportunity to prove themselves to get into the Indian team," Dhoni revealed at an event.
While Jadeja was already in the scheme of things, Dube solidified his spot as he scored 396 runs from 14 innings at an average of 36 and strike rate of 162.29. The left-handed batter scored three half-centuries in the season.
Dhoni said that the team was happy with what he was doing down the order.
"There was nothing in it for me, no selection and other things. So I'm good behind [playing down the order] and my team was happy with what I was doing," the 43-year-old added.
Dhoni’s IPL 2024 numbers
Dhoni scored 161 runs from 11 innings at an average of 54.66. He hit 13 sixes and remained not out eight out of 11 times. He took CSK to the doorstep of qualification in the must-win game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but lost his wicket to left-arm pacer Yash Dayal.
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Dhoni can be retained as uncapped player
Dhoni is set to return to IPL 2025. However, there is a suspense over whether he will be retained as an uncapped player. CSK can choose to pay as low as Rs 4 crore to Dhoni ahead of the auction.
