Shane Watson feels that the Chennai Super Kings have had a shot at winning the match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru if MS Dhoni had come earlier in the batting order in the IPL 2025 match played on March 28.
RCB defeated CSK by 50 runs after posting a target of 197 runs at Chepauk to record a historic win. However, the main talking point was seeing Dhoni come in to bat at No.9 which upsets fans and pundits.
Watson said that CSK fans came to see the cameo from Dhoni, but he would have liked to see the former India captain bat higher, especially ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin.
Watson feels that Dhoni has shown that, over the past few seasons, the CSK legend has shown that he can still be destructive and needs to be promoted in order to show his full range.
The former Aussie all-rounder pointed out Dhoni is still good behind the stumps which hints his good shape.
“This is exactly what CSK fans come to see—30 off 16 deliveries from Dhoni. I would have absolutely loved to see him come up the order. In my opinion, he should have batted ahead of Ashwin. Given the game situation, Dhoni could have played like this for another 15 balls.
Despite playing only in IPL, he has consistently batting beautifully over the last couple of years. I truly believe he should be promoted up the order so we can see the full extent of his skills.
Shane Watson commented on CSK’s loss and said that they haven’t got their combinations right at the moment.
The former CSK man suggested that Deepak Hooda isn’t up to the mark at the moment and Sam Curran should be batting at No. 7 and not at No.5.
“It was disappointing to see certain decisions, like Rahul Tripathi opening the batting. Ruturaj Gaikwad is a quality opener, yet he had to come in later. Even one of the shots Ruturaj played—where he gave himself room against Hazlewood—was uncharacteristic.”
CSK will be playing their next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 39 at Guwahati.
