Dhoni demoting himself to No. 9 spot against PBKS caused a stir in the cricket fraternity.
In the ongoing IPL edition, the 42-year-old has mostly come into bat with around two overs remaining in the Super Kings innings.
While Dhoni has batted exceptionally well in the death overs, he bagged a golden duck against PBKS at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. Harshal Patel knocked him over with a slower Yorker.
Dhoni demoting himself to No. 9 spot caused a stir, with former India spinner Harbhajan Singh suggesting that the former CSK skipper should drop himself and play an extra bowler if he can't come out to bat in such situations.
However, a report published in TOI has claimed that coming out to bat in the lower order is more of a compulsion for Dhoni, who is reportedly taking medicines before coming to bat or field and has actively attempted to minimise his running.
According to the report, Dhoni is playing the entire IPL with a muscle tear in his leg and there is no way he can run for too long. He sustained the tear early in this year's IPL and had the team's second wicketkeeper — Devon Conway, who is also ruled out of the tournament due to an injury, been available, Dhoni might have thought of giving himself a break.
"We are virtually playing with our ‘B' team. Those who are criticizing Dhoni don't know the sacrifice that he is doing for this team," a source close to the developments told TOI.
Dhoni led CSK to the IPL 2023 triumph despite playing with a knee injury. He underwent a surgery soon after the conclusion of the last IPL season.
While Dhoni regained complete fitness before the IPL 2024, the muscle tear he sustained earlier this season has severely restricted his movements on the ground. During practice, he is not doing any running at all and rather focuses on hitting the ball out of the park. In fact, the little bit of running between the wickets is only aggravating the injury.
On the eve of the IPL 2024 opener, MS Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain and handed over the leadership baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Despite dealing with the injury, Dhoni will not take a break as he has been a guiding light for new captain Gaikwad.
Gaikwad's captaincy is "still a work in progress" and even if CSK fail to qualify for play-offs, he won't be removed from captaincy.
"He is giving his best and we believe we will go much beyond just making the play-offs," the source said.
(With TOI Inputs)