MS Dhoni Has To Come Out Of Poor Phase: Kumar Sangakkara

Oct 30, 2020 at 6:44 PM

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MS Dhoni Has To Come Out Of Poor Phase: Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, who is a commentator in IPL 2020 felt that 2020 was a year where things didn’t quite go according to MS Dhoni’s fans, and he felt the CSK skipper should have played competitive cricket to back in form in IPL 2020.

Part of the problem has been MS Dhoni’s long absence from international cricket, which eventually ended with the former Indian captain who led India to two world cup T20 and ODI wins announcing his retirement on August 15, 2020. He guided India to inaugural T20 World Cup win in 2007 and 2011 World Cup, which came after a hiatus of 28 years, besides leading CSK to three IPL titles.

Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara (Image Credit: Google)

Kumar Sangakkara: MS Dhoni Has To Deal With This Phase, And He Has To Come Out Of It

Chennai Super Kings’ poor performance in IPL 2020 has coincided with captain MS Dhoni’s poor form as well. MS Dhoni has in the past taken his team out of trouble with his batting but this season has been different.

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who is commentating in the IPL feels this year nothing went right for the veteran wicket-keeper, but he can come out of it.

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni (Image Credit: IPL)

But he too feels that MS Dhoni needs to play competitive cricket to be in form for a tournament as tough as the IPL, where the best players in the world compete.

“…. you will always have a season or series where you’re off the boil, and this is MS’. It has reflected on the team’s fortunes as well. And it’s something you get to expect. You can over analyse it, you analyse it any which way, it just happens. And it’s happened at the back end of MSD’s career.

“But that doesn’t make him a lesser player or less important for CSK at all. It’s just one of those phases that he has got to deal with and he’s got to come out of it,” Kumar Sangakkara told Star Sports on Thursday.

“I am sure he is hungry to keep playing, hungry to perform. Knowing MSD, he would much rather take a team win than a half-century for himself. That’s the way he has been built, that’s the way he has always thought. If he can contribute to it in any way, even by scoring 10 runs he’d be happy.”

The lack of match practice has clearly left its mark on MS Dhoni’s form, who has looked patchy throughout the season. With the next season of IPL expected to take place in around 6 months as IPL 2020 was delayed due to coronavirus pandemic, MS Dhoni needs to get back in form to reverse the fortunes of his team. CSK are last 8th placed and are out of contention for a place in the play-offs. MS Dhoni last played in 2019 World Cup loss in semis against New Zealand which turned out his last international game.

Kumar Sangakkara: MS Dhoni Will Be Disappointed With Personal Form

MS Dhoni has scored exactly 200 runs in 13 matches averaging below par 25 unlike his overall average of 41 in 203 IPL matches. He is yet to score even a half-century, and his highest is an unbeaten 47.

“He will of course be disappointed with his personal form but with only 2 games to go, I don’t think there is any point in trying to salvage that. It’s about winning games. He can address it after he goes and comes back next year,” he remarked.

MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh
MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

“But what he has to do is to play some more super-competitive cricket in between. You can’t have long gaps between your IPL seasons, not playing international cricket or not playing regional or first-class cricket. He has got to be super competitive and play competitive cricket to be in form.”

It will be interesting to see if MS Dhoni plays any domestic cricket or takes the T20 route by participating in leagues around the world. But for that he would need a permission from the BCCI as the board only allows players to participate in global leagues if they retire. Yuvraj Singh took retirement and played in Canada League in 2019.

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