Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming said that it is not possible to send MS Dhoni up the batting order midway through the innings due to his age and his struggle with knee injuries. Dhoni came to bat at No.7 during the run chase against the Rajasthan Royals
with four overs remaining at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati as well. However, he had impressed with his cameo while batting at No.9 vs the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at home on Friday. But failed to do so against RR as he scored 16 off 11.

“Yeah, it’s a time thing. MS judges it. His body is, his knees aren’t what they used to be. And he’s moving okay, but there’s still an attrition aspect to it. He can’t bat 10 overs running full stick. So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game’s in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he’s balancing that,” Stephen Fleming said during the post-match press conference (via Hindustan Times).

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He also admitted that MS Dhoni’s knees make the prospect of him playing out big innings quite unrealistic as well. It is also noteworthy that MS Dhoni underwent knee surgery after CSK’s title-winning campaign in 2023 as well.

“I said it last year [as well], he’s too valuable to us – leadership and wicket-keeping – to throw him in nine, ten overs. He has actually never done that. So, look, from around 13-14 overs, he’s looking to go depending on who’s in,” Stephen Fleming concluded.