Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has scathingly hit out at the Chennai Super Kings for their handling of the situation surrounding MS Dhoni and his availability in this season.
The Super Kings have managed just two wins in the season, and much criticism has been pointed at Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form with the bat. The skipper has scored 82 runs in six innings, and Manjrekar has defended him by placing responsibility on the Super Kings management.
“This blame, I’m going to put at the doorstep of the owners and people who make the big decisions. Because Gaikwad, before he was captain, was phenomenal at the top of the order,” Manjrekar told Sportstar.
The cricketer-turned-boardcaster spoke of the fandom culture surrounding MS Dhoni’s stature in the IPL. The former India skipper has been ruled out for the season with a calf issue and has yet to feature for the Super Kings this season. He also recounted an incident where he had to face the wrath of his fans.
“And then that thing with MS Dhoni — whether he’s going to be playing, whether he’s going to be captain — they handled that very badly. And this is where you see the sycophancy of Indian culture that has seeped into cricket as well. I mean, there isn’t just a fan following of Dhoni, there is sycophancy around it,” he added.
“There was one instance of Dhoni trying to put his bat into the crease, and it was a very close call. And I said he was clearly short and should be run out. They got angry with me for saying that because it was seen as anti-Dhoni. Somewhere, they lost sight of the bigger picture,” Manjrekar concluded.
Manjrekar also bluntly questioned how the Super Kings could accommodate Dhoni in the batting order when he returns from his injury.
“Maybe, but then you have to play Dhoni on the field. And how do you do that? Increasingly, he’s finding it tough to deliver. It was a bit of a joke when he came down the order to face three or four balls and the coverage hyped it up as ‘what an innings’. It lasted four balls. So that’s not feasible anymore, and it was never going to be a long-term solution. I can’t pretend to know how Ruturaj felt when M.S. was on the field but not captaining, as opposed to not being there at all,” he said.
The Super Kings will take on the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on April 23 in their next game. It has been reported that Dhoni has travelled along with the squad to Mumbai.
