IPL 2018 | MS Dhoni ensures each player realises his role and settles into it quickly, says Kris Srikkanth

While seeing vintage MS Dhoni in the yellow jersey has been a treat for everyone, another aspect of his that has received equal praise is his captaincy. The way MS Dhoni has marshaled his troops in this season has been phenomenal. Having given up the captaincy of the Indian side and then, snubbed from the captaincy of Rising Pune Supegiants, there were shades of doubt whether Dhoni would be able to show the magic of his captaincy for CSK. But Dhoni has shattered every shade of doubt that anyone had and has led from the front.  

“MS Dhoni is a past master at finding the perfect combination and more importantly he ensures each player realises his role and settles into it quickly. The confidence he showed in Deepak Chahar and Ambati Rayudu is a vital lesson for other skippers.”

“Despite losing a few players and some plagued by injuries in between, CSK has been the team to beat. What happens when a captain allocates clear roles is the dependence on individual performance comes down drastically. Dhoni himself has been special with the bat and at the same time every member has been contributing significantly as well,” Srikkanth added. 

“Going toward the business end of the tournament, the only change I would like to see in CSK is Rayudu playing the role of a permanent opener. I am not a big believer in constant changing of the batting order. Barring this, CSK are moving as a well-oiled machine and will definitely start as favourites against Rajasthan Royals.” 

However, for Rajasthan, who have 8 points in the 10 games, things don’t look  good. A win also would not guarantee their survival in the tournament, but a loss would certainly end their campaign this season. Srikkanth pointed that RR have found their ideal XI in the recent few games and would like to go past CSK in their home ground, where they have certain edge over CSK.    

“On the other hand, every game is a knock out for Rajasthan. Sometimes this can bring out the best in teams as they have nothing more to lose. Ajinkya Rahane seems to have found his ideal playing XI in the last few games. The former champions can only hope that every aspect of their game plan clicks to put it past a team like CSK,” Srikkanth said.