Kapil Dev, former Indian 1983 World Cup-winning skipper reckons that 39-year-old MS Dhoni wound find it almost impossible and difficult to perform if he features in only the Indian Premier League (IPL) every year.
In IPL 2020, the 39-year-old MS Dhoni made his return to competitive cricket after a gap of 14 months having last played in 2019 World Cup. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman went on a sabbatical after playing in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester which India lost thereby bowing out of the World Cup.
Kapil Dev-MS Dhoni Should Go Back To First Class Cricket
In the IPL, MS Dhoni flattered to deceive, both as a batsman and skipper notching up only 200 runs in 14 matches averaging a below-par 25. Though the Chennai Super Kings won their last three games in the group stage, they had already become the first team to be eliminated. According to Kapil Dev who recently had angioplasty following a heart attack, the Jharkhand-born MS Dhoni needs to go back to competitive cricket in order to get his form back.
“If Dhoni decides on playing only IPL every year, then it’s impossible for him to perform. It’s not a good thing to talk about age but at his age (39 years), the more he plays, the more his body will be tuned,” Kapil was quoted as saying in ABP News.
“If you don’t play any cricket for 10 months a year and suddenly play IPL, you can see what happened. You can always have a season up or down if you have played so much cricket. It has happened to someone like Chris Gayle also,” he stated.
“He should go back to first-class cricket (domestic List A and T20) and play there. If someone has achieved so much, the dip in form does affect and it becomes a challenge. Let’s see how he comes out of it,” Kapil added.
This was the first time that Chennai failed to reach the playoffs but however escaped finishing last in the points table. Chennai finished 7th ahead of Rajasthan Royals with 12 points from 14 matches with 6 wins and 8 defeats. CSK skipper MS Dhoni announced retirement from international cricket on Independence Day after leading India to two World Cup titles- 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 50 Overs World Cup after a hiatus of 28 years.
Interestingly, Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni are the only skippers to win 50 Overs World Cup for India. Kapil Dev suggests MS Dhoni go back and play first-class cricket.
MS Dhoni Confirms To Return For IPL 2021 And Michael Vaughan Says MS Dhoni Should Return For IPL 2022
Earlier, MS Dhoni confirmed that he would feature in the 2021 edition of the IPL. He put forward his thoughts to commentator Danny Morrison before CSK played their final league match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, former England cricketer and skipper Michael Vaughan said that MS Dhoni should return for the 2022 edition of IPL as well. The Englishman feels that MS Dhoni deserves to bow out in style after playing in front of his home crowd as there is still no clarity whether IPL 2021 will be held in India or abroad due to rising coronavirus cases in India but the situation may improve in 2022.