MS Dhoni will be returning to playing competitive cricket for the first time since India’s painful exit in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. In this period, MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020. Dhoni has been practicing hard for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020 and he is looking in great shape in the net sessions. However, former India batsman and Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir is skeptical about Dhoni having an impact in IPL 2020 as he is coming off a long break from cricket. Speaking in a TV show, Gambhir said it will be hard for Dhoni to have an impact immediately in this tournament.

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“Firstly, every captain's role is important for their franchise. But MS Dhoni's becomes more important because they don't have Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, two players from their playing XI who had experience. He has not played cricket at all for the last one year, so to suddenly come to a tournament like the IPL and start scoring runs and make an impact sometimes becomes difficult,” Gambhir said.

Bat higher up the order

With Suresh Raina missing out on IPL 2020 due to personal reasons, Gambhir believes that Dhoni should bat higher up the order so that he can get into rhythm and drive the innings forward. Dhoni has had moderate success at No.3 and No.4 in the past and with Raina’s absence, the need for Dhoni to shift up the order increases.

“The higher he bats, it would become easier. I would want to see at what number MS Dhoni bats because the better you bat, the better decisions you can take as a captain. So his form is going to be very important and I will want to see him start at No.3 or No.4 so that he can get his form,” Gambhir said.

Chennai Super Kings open their IPL 2020 campaign on September 19 against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.