Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Chennai Super Kings will struggle with death bowling in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 until Ben Stokes starts bowling his entire quota. However, Manjrekar shared his concern about CSK’s death-bowling but believes that the franchise’s success mostly depends on MS Dhoni’s captaincy. He backed CSK to certainly make the playoffs this season as well.

“I’m slightly concerned about their death bowling. They have Dwaine Pretorious, but I doubt he has that experience. Until Ben Stokes can’t bowl, CSK might have issues with death bowling. Since there is home advantage this time and MS Dhoni’s captaincy is brilliant when the pitches are slow,” Sanjay Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPN Cricinfo’s Timeout.

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“Captaincy is a significant reason why CSK has been able to perform so well. They have a track record that when they perform poorly in a season, they bounce back quite well in the next. I think CSK will be one of the four teams to reach the playoffs,” Manjrekar further added.

Sanjay Manjrekar also believes Deepak Chahar will bowl well at the death and said that Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana will also do once he is available.

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“I think MS Dhoni might bowl one or two overs of Deepak Chahar at the death. If he bowls well with the new ball, then Dhoni will keep one for the last. Chahar has the potential to do well at the death. Apart from that, he might use Pretorious. Maheesh Theekshana is unavailable for the first game and many teams use him in that role. However, I feel they will manage it well,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.