IPL 2018| Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar hail MS Dhoni’s fitness after he bats with back injury

04/16/2018

Former India captains Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar have lauded MS Dhoni’s fitness levels after he scored a sensational unbeaten 79 despite suffering from a back injury. Kapil Dev also felt batting up the order will help Dhoni a lot as it will give him the time he needs to settle at the crease.

The way Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted in the last game was fantastic and almost took CSK from being dead and buried to a stunning win. With 55 required in 3 overs, Dhoni took his team really close but fell short by 4 runs. Throughout the innings, Dhoni was troubled with a back injury which also restricted him in certain ways. He couldn’t reach out to the wide deliveries and as a result, Mohit Sharma bowled some excellent wide yorkers in the final over to hand CSK their first defeat of the season.

Despite being one of the oldest members in the Indian team and in the CSK squad, MS Dhoni is one of the fittest cricketers. He works really hard on maintaining his fitness levels and he still is one of the most agile players. Hence, fitness is never a concern as far as MS Dhoni is concerned. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar praised Dhoni’s knock and at the same time said that he is at the top of his fitness levels.

“It was awesome the way he played. He came close to winning the game for CSK. He has played really well. I wish him luck. I have always believed that form and fitness are two important aspects of the game. As far as Dhoni is concerned, his fitness level is still excellent, as good as he was before,” Vengsarkar was quoted saying by TOI.

The 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev also echoed Vengsarkar’s views and opined that Dhoni should continue batting higher up in the order.

“He is very fit and in terms of overall ratings, he is one of the top players in terms of fitness. This IPL will give him strength to do bigger things as a player. He was fabulous the other night. Batting up the order is going to do a world of good to his batting. He will open his arms and shoulder at will. I am sure he is enjoying every moment of it,” Kapil Dev said.

The extent of the back injury Dhoni is suffering from is yet to be known. But according to him, it should not be too bad. “It shouldn't be too bad because I know what happened. And when you know the extent of your injury, you know how bad it really is,” MS Dhoni said after the game yesterday. The good news for CSK is that they have four days before their next game. Thus, Dhoni has the time to recover, otherwise it will be a massive blow for CSK who have already dealt with a lot of injury issues.

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