‘You might get to see best of him in second half’: Chahar believes MS Dhoni will return stronger in rescheduled IPL 2021
Deepak Chahar, the leading CSK pacer, reckons that skipper MS Dhoni will be back to his best once the tournament restarts.
Ever since Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, his fans wish to see him play with more freedoom in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as it’s the only tournament where he can be seen in action. However, the Chennai Super Kings skipper has been struggling to exhibit a startling performance with the bat since the last season.
In 2020, Dhoni had the worst season as he managed just 200 runs from 14 games, the least number of runs he has scored in an IPL season. This year, he was indeed spot on with his leadership but with the bat, he was as silent as last year.
Dhoni hasn’t been regular in professional cricket since his last appearance for India in World Cup 2019 semi-final and hence, not been able to bat well in the league. However, Deepak Chahar, the leading CSK pacer, reckons that the veteran will be back to his best once the tournament restarts.
“A batsman cannot bat the same way for 15-20 years. If any batsman hasn’t played regular cricket before, it is never easy to just come to a competition of the level of IPL and start performing, it takes time. He has always played the finisher's rule, which is even tougher when you haven't played regular cricket,” Deepak Chahar told Sportskeeda in an interview.
“Even in the 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons, Dhoni bhai started a bit slowly by his standards, but his stroke play became fluent as the season progressed. So, you might get to see the best of MS Dhoni in the second half of the season,” he added.
Deepak also spoke about the way Dhoni backs him and other players in the team. The pacer believes that it’s his ability to read the game that makes Dhoni a successful captain.
“This has been my fourth year at CSK and Dhoni bhai has shown his trust in me as his strike bowler. This trust is so important because he has not just inspired me but also many others. His best quality as a captain is about how to utilize a player on a particular day for a particular situation. I’ve bowled three overs in the powerplay in pretty much every game for CSK and have learned a lot through him,” Chahar said.