Chennai Super Kings (CSK) icon MS Dhoni rolled back the years with another entertaining cameo in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Friday. The former CSK captain hit an unbeaten 26 off just 11 balls, albeit in a losing cause against the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With CSK chasing 232, Dhoni arrived at no.8 and produced a valiant effort with the bat, but his team lost the match by 35 runs.

While there has been a debate surrounding Dhoni’s batting slot, former India batter Virender Sehwag insisted that the 42-year-old should be batting higher up the order.

While analysing the match, Sehwag said that the debate surrounding his number should end, but suggested that others need to bat like him to achieve big targets.

“We should end the debate around MS Dhoni’s batting position. He knows what he wants to do. It’s his wish. But if you want to win the match, the form he is in, and the strike rate that he’s batting at… the other batters need to play at a similar level. It felt today that Mitchell and Ali couldn’t match Sudharsan and Gill. Someone has to score a 100. Or Jadeja and Dube had to score a 20-ball fifty to get close to the target,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“I don’t want to get into the debate. Wherever he bats, it’s fine. He played fine, and entertained the public, who cares if they win or lose? He entertained the public, that’s it,” he added.

After the match, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming Dhoni’s fitness and said the team management is very cautious about the former skipper’s fitness and knows what he can give to the team.

“Like just hitting sixes and fours, which he has done pretty well. And keep as well as some of the best in the competition if not the best in the competition. So don’t underestimate his influence on the team just because he comes in at No. 9. There’s a timing aspect, but we’re very wary of what he can give us. And we’ll max that out,” Fleming was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

He also pointed out that CSK don’t want to put much pressure on Dhoni where they will lose him from injury. The head coach said that the wicketkeeper-batter is “okay”.

“But we don’t want to max that out where we lose him. So it’s a delicate balance, but trust me, his best interest is with us, and his interest [is] in performing well for us is still very high. To put the nation at ease – he’s okay,” he added.

(With ANI Inputs)