‘Need to do something different’ – Parthiv Patel wants MS Dhoni to open amid CSK’s horrendous campaign in IPL 2022

Chennai Super Kings are off to their worst start in an Indian Premier League (IPL) season, suffering defeats in their first four games. Hardly anything has gone their way so far as many fans and experts have already written them off from the playoff race. Meanwhile, former India and CSK wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel has come up with an out-of-the-box idea which the defending champions can opt to bounce back in IPL 2022.

The southpaw floated the idea of MS Dhoni, former CSK captain, opening the batting instead of playing lower down the order. Parthiv reckons the wicketkeeper-batter can lay a solid foundation, allowing the middle and lower-order batters to berserk in the end overs. It must be noted that Dhoni earned substantial success while batting at number three for India in ODIs. He has also opened for the national team on a couple of occasions.

MS Dhoni is batting at No.7 now and plays hardly 10-15 balls: Parthiv Patel

“He is someone who has revived the CSK side over the years. MS Dhoni started his career as an opener, why not take the role in the fag-end of his career? He is batting at No.7 now and plays hardly 10-15 balls. So why not Dhoni bat up in the order at No.3 or maybe at 4 or open? Just a figure like MS Dhoni, even if he stays there for 14-15 overs you never know. You will have to do something different,” Parthiv said on Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, Dhoni has never opened in T20 cricket. He played a couple of ODIs as opener almost 17 years back, returning with scores of two against Sri Lanka and 96 against England. Acknowledging his past records, Parthiv further said Dhoni has scored runs on several challenging tracks.

“Every time India were in trouble in seaming conditions, MS Dhoni has got runs, whether it was against Sri Lanka where he got 80 in Dharamsala or in Chennai against Pakistan where he got a hundred. With his technique, everyone would think that he would struggle on a seaming wicket and here the ball is seaming around in the first 4-5 overs and he has his own technique and knows how to survive,” asserted the 37-year-old.

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