Chennai Super Kings endured their 10th loss in 13 games in the ongoing Indian Premier League, losing by six wickets to the Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday. Batting first, five-time champions could just score 187/8 with the lens on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again as he laboured to a 17-ball 16-run knock. So far in 13 innings, Dhoni — who took over captaincy mid-way through the season after captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury — has managed to score just 196 runs at an average of 24.50 and at a strike rate of 135.17. His top score has been an unbeaten 30.
After the latest defeat for Dhoni and Co, former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar said that if he were MS Dhoni, he would say ‘enough’ after this season.
“It all boils down to MS, but if I was MS, I would say ‘enough’. I’d say, ‘Okay, I have played whatever I wanted to play, I have looked after the interest of the franchise’, if there’s any, if that was the motivation. But, you know, you move on,” was Bangar’s brutally honest view on Dhoni’s position at the franchise, where he has became a cornerstone. Bangar was responding to a question on ESPNCricinfo about Dhoni’s future.
“By you being there, if you’re thinking that the transition will happen fast, there’s never an ideal time to pick. So you might as well [make] peace with the fact that, ‘okay, even if I leave now, the franchise will develop on its own; it will take a year longer, but I’m not going to be here for the entire cycle’. That’s how I would look at MS’ position if I was in that position,” Bangar added.
“I think at 43 it’s very tough to play in that competitive environment. When you’re 43, why this competitive environment, even if you go and play some local cricket, you will find how tough it is on the body as well,” Bangar said.
