If MS Dhoni thinks his knees are shot and he cannot bat for long, what's stopping CSK from retiring him out?

Entry point. That's one of the new-age terms to have made it to the lexicon of modern cricket, much like reverse sweep and switch hit and the carrom ball. MS Dhoni plays a shot during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals(PTI)

Entry point means precisely that -- the point at which a batter makes his entry to the middle. Apart from the openers, this can be anywhere from the second ball onwards for the No. 3, and so on...

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's entry point has been a source of much debate and discussion as Season 18 of the Indian Premier League enters its third week. Having come as low as No. 9 in their second match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with 98 needed off 26 deliveries, the former India and Chennai Super Kings captain has batted at No. 7 in the next two games.

But by the time Dhoni, a young 43, has strode out, the battle has practically been won and lost. Against Rajasthan Royals, CSK needed 54 off 25; the task was even more daunting on Saturday evening at Chepauk against Delhi Capitals – 110 to hunt down in just 56. Predictably, CSK fell short in both cases, going down by six and 25 runs respectively.

The five-time former champions, who lifted the trophy thrice in six years between 2018 and 2023, have lost three in a row since their defeat of Mumbai Indians in their opener, and are fast approaching the point of no-return. Much of their travails stem from underwhelming displays by their top order, and a conservative, old-world approach. They have the worst scoring rate in the Powerplay of all teams; CSK are like a rundown jalopy on the Formula One circuit. They have scored at 7.5 runs an over – nearly four runs less than Rajasthan Royals, who lead the scoring in the first six overs – in the first six overs and have lost eight wickets in that period in four matches. By the time they lost their first wicket, they have posted scores of 11, 8, 0 and 14, all while batting second. Which begs the question: Isn’t there a case for Dhoni to bat higher up the order, maybe at No. 3 even, given that CSK have had no starts worth the name and that Dhoni is pretty much wasted lower down the order.

Dhoni up the order? Why not?

In T20 cricket, more than any other format, the position in the batting order is almost irrelevant. It’s more about how many deliveries are left in the innings. Stephen Fleming, CSK’s long-standing coach, has gone on record as saying that Dhoni can’t bat ’10 overs running full stick’. “It's a time thing - MS judges it," said Fleming. "His knees aren't what they used to be. He's moving OK, but there's still an attrition aspect to it.”

So, why not Dhoni higher up the order? Even in the Powerplay maybe, when the field restrictions are in place, when the need to run furiously between the wickets isn’t pressing, and when there are enough gaps to exploit? In any case, as this edition of the IPL and several seasons before it have showcased, Dhoni is far more at home playing against faster bowlers than spinners. He is in his elements when he can feed off the pace the faster bowlers offer rather than having to make his own pace against the spinners. Perhaps therefore, it won’t be the worst idea to unleash him in the first half of the innings, when his efficacy will be magnified, especially given that CSK have been unable to eke out any runs worth their name from their top order, which includes Rachin Ravindra, the Kiwi who made two hundreds in four games in the Champions Trophy not so long back, and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is yet to find his mojo this season at No. 3.

If Dhoni does manage to stay unconquered till the 10th over or thereabouts, he would have a fair amount of runs under his belt. Many of them would have come through boundaries because there are fewer outriders. If he still feels that his knees are shot and he can’t bat through the innings, he can always be retired out, allowing fresher legs and younger blood to build on a platform already established. If he wants to carry on, well, even better. And if that experiment doesn’t come off, so be it. It’s not as if Dhoni will be meddling with a productive top order, because one of the main reasons why CSK find themselves one place off the foot of the table is the lack of runs from their first four.

Maybe it is radical and out of the box, but then again, don’t desperate times call for desperate measures? Especially when there is some logic to the exercise?

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