Former India starter Aakash Chopra jumped to the defense of MS Dhoni, who has been facing the heat of several former cricketers for his batting position against the Rajasthan Royals. The Chennai Super Kings pattern surprised everyone by hitting the bat at number seven as his team chased down an unlikely 217.
CSK ultimately lost the game by 16 runs and after the loss, several former cricketers criticized MS Dhoni for his decision to demote. His former teammate Gautam Gambhir led the criticism when he said that MS Dhoni failed to lead from the front by dropping in the batting order.
“This is not what you call leading from the front. Hitting No. 7 when you’re chasing 217. The game was over. Faf was probably the lone warrior. ” Gambhir had said.
Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen also criticized MS Dhoni. However, Aakash Chopra has presented a different assessment to justify the CSK boss’s decision.
Aakash Chopra on Dhoni:
Aakash Chopra started to defend Dhoni by blatantly saying that Gambhir never refrains from speaking his mind on all matters relating to the former captain of India. He then justified Dhoni’s decision by saying that the latter’s idea of leadership is not about leading from the front.
Aakash Chopra said that Dhoni has built his legacy of captaincy at IPL by promoting others ahead of him. He also signaled his decision to promote Sam Curran in the tournament opener against the Mumbai Indians to further defend the CSK captain.
“Chennai fell without a proper fight, some would say. Gautam Gambhir, one who is not known for beating around the bush in all Dhoni matters, said that you cannot lead from the front when you keep degrading yourself when chasing a grand total. While that assessment cannot be argued with, the fact is that Dhoni’s leadership style is not the same as that of many captains. wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
“In fact, your idea of leadership is not about leading from the front. He built his legacy as a captain, at least in franchise cricket, by pushing others ahead of him. And even at its peak, it came in only when things started to go pear-shaped. And he was able to rescue quite a few missions of this type. Of course it didn’t happen against Rajasthan, but in the previous game, against Mumbai, Dhoni promoted Curran and it turned out to be a masterstroke in the end.
Dhoni’s greatest strength as CSK captain has been his ability to focus on the big picture of the entire campaign, rather than getting caught up in the details of a league game. That is why in the first game of the season, he chooses an XI that in his head is near perfect and sticks with the same staff for as long as possible. Most of the other IPL captains would have benched Shane Watson in the middle of the last IPL, but Dhoni persisted and paid dividends. ” added.
CSK will look to get back on the winning track when they meet Delhi Capitals in the seventh match of the tournament on Friday.
