IPL 2020 | MS Dhoni should go back to domestic cricket before next IPL, expresses Kapil Dev

Just before the start of the 2020 IPL, CSK’s mainstay batsman Suresh Raina pulled out of the tournament, owing to personal reasons, which put the impetus on MS Dhoni to lead the side in the batting department. In the initial phase of the competition, Dhoni promoted the likes of Kedar Jadhav ahead of him before he started taking up more responsibility in the back end when the season was done for the franchise. 

Despite all of that, the right-hander only scored 200 runs in 14 innings, at a paltry strike-rate of 116, one of the major reasons for CSK’s failure this season. On top of that, the 39-year-old also revealed that he will play for the franchise next season. 

While the situation isn’t going to get any better if Dhoni continues to not play cricket in between the two editions of IPL, former Indian skipper Kapil Dev expressed that the 39-year-old should look at playing in domestic cricket to improve his batting form. 

"He should go back to first-class cricket (domestic List A and T20) and play there," Kapil told 'ABP News' reported TOI. 

"If Dhoni decides on playing only IPL every year, then it's impossible for him to perform. It's not a good thing to talk about age but at his age (39 years), the more he plays, the more his body will be tuned," he added. 

Prior to this edition of the tournament, Dhoni’s last appearance in an Indian jersey came in the semi-final clash against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup. Post that, it was only in March when the right-hander started practising for the tournament. Kapil also added that it has happened with someone like Chris Gayle, so the former Indian skipper must be careful about his practice. 

"If you don't play any cricket for 10 months a year and suddenly play IPL, you can see what happened. You can always have a season up or down if you have played so much cricket. It has happened to someone like Chris Gayle also," stated Kapil.