Statistical analysis of Dhoni's reduced role in IPL since 2020
Statistical analysis of Dhoni's reduced role in IPL since 2020
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan has confirmed that veteran wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni is likely to play all matches in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
The 19th edition of the league will kick off on March 28, with all franchises already starting their training camps for the lucrative tournament.
Though Dhoni has had a reduced role in the past few seasons, his overall IPL record is nothing but sensational.
Here we look at his stats.
Most runs by a keeper in IPL history
Dhoni, the most-capped player in IPL history, has 278 caps to his name, as per ESPNcricinfo.
He has tallied 5,439 runs at an average of 38.30. His strike rate of 137.45 is also impressive.
Meanwhile, 5,321 of Dhoni's IPL runs have come as a designated wicket-keeper.
Dinesh Karthik (4,463) is the only other player with 3,400-plus IPL runs as a gloveman.
This puts Dhoni in a league of his own.
Dhoni has 24 fifties in IPL
Dhoni's tally of 24 50-plus scores in IPL is the joint-second-most for a keeper alongside Quinton de Kock.
Only KL Rahul is ahead of the duo with 30 such scores. Moreover, the CSK talisman has tallied the fourth-most sixes in IPL history (264).
Dhoni's best IPL score of 84* came against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019 - the CSK star's last IPL season as an international cricketer.
Is Dhoni the best lower-order batter in IPL history?
3,683 of Dhoni's IPL runs have come while batting at five or lower.
No other batter has even 3,000 runs in this regard.
Dhoni also has the most 50-plus scores in these positions (18).
Among batters with at least 2,000 IPL runs at five or lower, only David Miller (42.22) has a better average than Dhoni's 39.6.
Reduced roles in recent seasons
Dhoni, who made his last Team India appearance in July 2019, will be playing in his seventh IPL season since his international retirement.
His role has been drastically reduced in the last few seasons, as his position in the batting order has often been criticized.
Since the start of the 2020 season, Dhoni has scored just 1,007 IPL runs across 88 matches.
His average (27.21) and strike rate (135.71) has been decent though.
Dhoni's position in the batting order
From 2008 to 2019, Dhoni's lowest batting position in an IPL game was seventh. He batted just six times across 143 innings in this spot. However, since the start of 2020, the veteran has batted 36 times across 72 innings at seven or lower. This includes 14 innings at number eight and three innings at number nine as well. Owing to the same, fans and experts have often criticized his spot in the playing XI.