Former Australian and CSK batter Matthew Hayden said that it’ll be a tough call for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to make MS Dhoni captain in the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). He feels that looking at keeper-batter's contribution with the bat there is no chance of him to continue as skipper.
It was a season full of lows for CSK. Their performances were not quite up to the mark as they managed only four wins this season and were the second team to get knocked out of the tournament.
There’s no doubt that they’ll leave no stone unturned in their comeback next year. But there are many areas that they need to address before that.
The future of Dhoni with the franchise remains one of the main talking points. Even though the keeper-batter himself made clear that he’ll play next year, there are lot of speculations whether he’ll captain the side or not.
Ahead of the season, Dhoni passed on the captaincy baton to the Ravindra Jadeja but his stint as the captain of the side didn’t turn out to be a good one as CSK lost six matches under him. He decided to focus more on his game and handed the captaincy back to keeper-batter.
Although there is no official statement from the franchise regarding whether Dhoni will continue as captain next season or not, many fans want him to lead the side.
But Matthew Hayden feels that it’ll be a tough call for CSK to make Dhoni skipper in the IPL 2023.
Speaking on Star Sports, Matthew Hayden highlighted that if the franchise is fine with his lack of runs, then there is no problem as he still possesses high skills in keeping and is fit. Calling Dhoni the ‘most experienced’ captain of the IPL, Hayden questioned his contribution in CSK’s rebuilding and re-structuring for the future.
“It is a really tough one. It depends on what the franchise expects. If you want a captain who has scored 200 runs this season at a strike rate of 128, then no problem. He has still got power in the hands, he still has those reflexes behind the stumps, and he has still got that great running between the wickets.
“He is also the most experienced captain in the entire IPL and has got those titles behind his name and that team behind him as well. But as they sit to rebuild and re-structure, how much of that is going to be MSD’s contribution,” Matthew Hayden said.
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Focusing on Dhoni’s contribution with the bat, Hayden compared him to Sanju Samson and said how the RR skipper is facing criticism despite contributing more than the CSK skipper.
“If you look at his actual contribution then I would say there is no chance of playing on. Have a look at Samson, he has scored over 300 runs at an average of 30 and that is still questioned if it is a big enough contribution as a leader.
“So these are the things that will be measured and it will be a very emotional decision. Listen to the crowd how they respond to him. And that is very important and that is why I fail to buy into this conversation,” he said.
Dhoni scored 232 runs in the IPL 2022 at an average of 33.14 and strike rate of 123.4 to go with one half-century.
(Star Sports inputs)
