MS Dhoni's reluctance to bat up raises questions

It has become absurd now that Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to play in the Indian Premier League. MSD took retirement from international cricket in 2020 having last played for India the year before. Maybe a season or two of the IPL was okay but now it's getting too much. If he was contributing fruitfully, it was okay but, if truth be told, he doesn't look interested at all which compels one to think if he was being forced to play by the franchise bosses.

It's already been noticed quite a few times this season that Dhoni doesn't look very keen on batting. Almost as if he is secretly hoping he doesn't have to walk onto the field to bat.

There is no denying that he is still a popular figure. As and when Dhoni has to walk out to bat, his arrival at the crease is accompanied by a raucous cheer. But the truth of the matter is he doesn't look much interested. If one pays attention to the following details, it's easy to figure out why he can't say no to playing.

Dhoni and N Srinivasan, owner of the Chennai franchise, go back a long way.

Srinivasan, as president of the BCCI, had given Dhoni miles of rope. Srinivasan had become president a few months after India won the 2011 World Cup under Dhoni and during his controversial, tainted reign, Dhoni was untouchable despite the team not doing very well.

Under him during this period, India lost loads of Test matches on the road, including clean-sweeps in England (weeks before Srinivasan's election) and Australia in 2011-12, underperformed in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka, mind you, for the third successive time on his watch, suffered a shock 2-1 Test defeat against England at home and lost the ODI series to Pakistan again at home.

Things went so bad, that the selectors wanted to remove him from captaincy at one point but Srinivasan intervened and ensured that didn't happen. He himself revealed it much later after Dhoni retired from international cricket. Clearly, Dhoni wouldn't have lasted so long in the leadership role without his backing. The 2013 betting scandal that culminated in Chennai incurring a two-year suspension in 2015... the franchise stuck by Dhoni and when the suspension was over, he resumed his leadership duties for them. Books have been written about the kind of relationship Dhoni and Srinivasan share. Some claim it's like a father-son relationship that has stood the test of time.

It's clear Dhoni is beholden and whether or not he wants to play, as long as the franchise - Srinivasan to be precise - wants, he will have to do it. He can't walk out which makes this situation even more weird.

In the ongoing IPL, Dhoni has shown reluctance to bat and his fans should refrain from saying that it's part of his grooming plans. It's make-believe, nothing else.

In the opening game against RCB, six CSK batters batted but Dhoni wasn't one of them. Against Gujarat, seven CSK batters batted. Again, Dhoni wasn't one of them. Nobody cared much because CSK won both the games.

Against Delhi, he came into bat at No.8 and scored a 16-ball 37*. CSK lost the match by 20 runs and fans were left to wonder: what would have happened if he had promoted himself up the order considering he still runs the show? In their last game against SRH, he batted at No.7 and played just two balls. And another loss came CSK's way.

No way he can motivate himself to play cricket at the age of 42. No matter how hard the franchise tries to make him look good in the build-up or during the season. That he looks in great shape, can run super-fast. Still can hit the ball a mile. Stuff like that.

Ageing is a fact of life. Reflexes tend to slow down and good fitness cannot help much. Dhoni is a great achiever. The winner of three ICC trophies as India captain and five IPL trophies as CSK captain. He doesn't have to go through this unnecessary grind. The franchise should have mercy on him. Besides, as long as he is around, there will be no real development of whoever the captain is. CSK have seen it with Ravindra Jadeja in 2022 and one should not be surprised if the same happens to Ruturaj Gaikwad this season.