Gautam Gambhir doesn't mince his words while talking about MS Dhoni: Aakash Chopra

After Chennai Super Kings’ loss against Rajasthan Royals in the fourth match of IPL 2020, questions were raised over MS Dhoni’s demotion in the batting order. Quashing fans’ hopes, the CSK skipper came in to bat at No.7 position when his side was chasing a dominant 216-run total.

CSK eventually lost the game by 16 runs and several former cricketers including Gautam Gambhir lambasted Dhoni for his decision to not come early in the run-chase. Gambhir even said that Dhoni did not lead from the front by dropping himself down the batting order.

“This is not what you call leading from the front. Batting at No. 7 when you’re chasing 217. The game was over. Faf was probably the lone warrior,” said the former India opener.

Aakash Chopra defends MS Dhoni’s decision to demote himself

Along with Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen were also unimpressed by Dhoni’s move. However, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has defended Dhoni while justifying the CSK’s skipper decision to demote himself in the batting order.

According to Chopra, Dhoni’s leadership is not about leading from the front as he has built his legacy in IPL by promoting others ahead of him. Dhoni had also sent Sam Curran up the top in the season-opener against Mumbai Indians. Chopra, further, also defended Dhoni by passing a cheeky statement. He said that Gambhir doesn’t mince his words when it comes to speaking about Dhoni.

“Chennai went down without a proper fight, some would argue. Gautam Gambhir, one who isn’t known to mince words on all matters Dhoni, said that you can’t lead from the front when you keep demoting yourself when chasing a huge total. While you can’t argue with that assessment, the fact is that Dhoni’s leadership style isn’t the same as that of many captains,” Chopra wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

“In fact, his idea of leadership isn’t about leading from the front all. He built his legacy as a captain, at least in franchise cricket, by pushing others ahead of him.

And even in his heyday, he would go in only when things started to go pear-shaped. And he was able to rescue quite a few such missions. Of course, it didn’t happen against Rajasthan, but in the game before, against Mumbai, Dhoni promoted Curran and it turned out to be a masterstroke in the end,” he added.