Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming, on Monday, said skipper MS Dhoni is likely to be promoted in the batting order in the upcoming season.
Dhoni’s batting position in the national team has caused a lot of debate in the recent past.
With his finishing abilities on the decline, the former India skipper has not quite managed to do the work lower down the order. As a result, many feel he should bat higher up.
Since Champions Trophy last year, Dhoni has played only once at No. 4 in 19 innings in 50-overs cricket. He has been mainly used as a floater at No. 6 and No. 7. Even in the T20Is, he has batted at No. 6.
However, Fleming has made it clear the veteran batsman will bat higher up in the order.
“MS will bat relatively high. It’s not necessarily a position with him, but a time that we may choose depending on what conditions we see. But he will definitely play a more prominent role as a batsman. We’ve picked (Kedar) Jadhav, (Ambati) Rayudu, (Ravindra) Jadeja & (Dwayne) Bravo so we can plan the middle phase. Looking at our side, there are a lot of multi-skilled players, and while not diminishing their main skills there is a lot of options that we can use,” Fleming said.
Fleming further said the team-management is seeing Shardul Thakur as a death-overs specialist. Along with Thakur, the team is also pinning its hopes on Rahul Chahar.
“I do see Thakur as a bowler for the slog, and he’s done it for India. He has been with me in Pune Supergiant during his developmental phase. He has got real talent. The challenge for those two players (Thakur and Chahar) is to find their consistency in performance,” he said.
With England pacer Mark Wood and South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi set to join the squad, Fleming is confident the team has all the bases covered on the pace-bowling front.
“Wood and Ngidi have got some good pace. Shane Watson is a savvy new-ball bowler, and we have several young Indian pacers. Ngidi bowled well against India, and we feel his style of bowling would suit well for the plans we have got. Wood has got a skiddy trajectory which offers something challenging. We also got the options of using spin as well,” he added.
Fleming also confirmed the franchise is yet to finalise on a replacement for injured Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell Santner.
“It’s not a necessity straightaway. It’s nice to have an option for later if we have any injury concerns to other players during the tournament,” Fleming said.
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