Irfan Pathan, a former all-rounder for India, believes that MS Dhoni, the wicketkeeper for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is not helping the team at all by batting as low as No. 9. Only after the seventh wicket fell on Friday, March 28, during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, did the veteran reach the crease.
In recent years, Dhoni has mostly adopted the role of a pure finisher, which calls for him to typically rank between No. 5 and No. 7, and occasionally as low as No. 8. After every dismissal, the Chepauk supporters expected their favorite player to leave, but instead they saw lower middle-order players like Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin leave.
After Ashwin was dismissed to Liam Livingstone in the sixteenth over, Dhoni eventually walked out to bat. The wicket-keeper hit a string of boundaries against Krunal Pandya in the last over of the innings as part of a brilliant, undefeated 16-ball 30. Nevertheless, CSK missed the enormous objective by 50 runs, therefore the cameo was in vain.
In a post on X, Irfan Pathan voiced his apprehension with MS Dhoni batting at number nine.
“I will never be in favour of Dhoni batting at number 9. Not ideal for team.”
Irfan Pathan
Dhoni took use of the opportunity to play out 16 deliveries since he had the full number of death overs available to him. Since the 2023 season began, this is only the third time he has faced at least 16 deliveries in an innings.
MS Dhoni Has Batted at No.9 Only Once Before IPL 2025
MSDhoni had participated once as an ninth batsman before the 2025 tournament took place. The rare batting event took place when CSK played Punjab Kings (PBKS) in an IPL 2024 away game at Dharamsala.
The starting inning began with Octabase Thakur and Mitchell Santner leaving the field ahead of the experienced cricketer. Dhoni came to bat during the match just as Harshal Patel delivered an exceptional slower ball that resulted in Dhoni’s dismissal for a duck.
