New Delhi, March 22
Former India batter Suresh Raina wants ex-Chennai Super Kings skipper M S Dhoni to bat higher in the order in the IPL 2024 adding that the whole world wants to see the iconic wicketkeeper-batter bat longer and "not the last two overs".
Ahead of the tournament opener against Royal Bengaluru (RCB), Dhoni on Thursday Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings' captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Speaking on JioCinema, Raina expressed his expectations from Dhoni in the IPL 2024, stating that this will be a big IPL for Dhoni as he will not be captaining the side but would hope CSK will uphold their championship mindset this season too.
"The best thing is that he's looking fit. He looks to be in good form and is batting well. But, I would want to see him bat higher in the order. The whole world wants to see him bat for five overs and not the last two overs. When he comes to the crease, he'll take some time to settle down and you'll see his helicopter sixes after that.
"He went through an operation, he will not be captaining, so this will be a big IPL for him. He would be hoping that CSK can maintain a champion's mindset. That will happen when Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Daryl Mitchell set the tone. So, they have to tick a lot of boxes," said Raina.
When asked whether RCB can beat CSK in Chepauk, where the yellow army won 45 of the 64 matches they played, Raina said, "I think RCB have the team to beat CSK. Also, whichever team plays against CSK will say that Ruturaj is now the captain, not Dhoni, so there's the psychological factor as well. The heat of Chennai has a different feeling, but the Dhoni wave is different. So, a lot will depend on Ruturaj's body language.
For RCB, Virat Kohli will return to competitive cricket after a two-month break. He has played only two T20 games - against Afghanistan in January - since the previous IPL.
The 37-year-old further said that he thinks Virat open the innings with Faf du Plessis, adding that "They have batsmen below them who can strike the ball well. On a wicket like this, we'll see him run a lot of singles. His form will be very important in the context of the T20 World Cup because the wickets in the West Indies are slow.
Raina further said, He (Virat) won't be short on motivation especially after Smriti Mandhana and her team have lifted the WPL trophy!"
On Virat's coming back to competitive cricket after two months, former wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel added. "When the stage is big, Kohli delivers. His intensity is so high that he does not need to look for motivation. He has almost 1,000 runs against CSK in the IPL, and he has batted at different positions.
"So, I think he'll open and score his runs. But what will matter is the strike rate that he maintains. That's from the point of view of the T20 World Cup. Because in the Indian team we have Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal opening the innings. Will Kohli bat for India as an opener or at No. 3 is a question that has to be answered."
The opening match between CSK and RCB will start at 8 pm on Friday at M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.