IPL 2023 is set to begin on 31 March 2023 with a clash between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad.
IPL 2023 will most probably be the last IPL for MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni will turn 42 a month after the IPL 2023 concludes, and no amount of fitness would help him play the IPL in 2024. Hence, Dhoni could be seen playing a different role for CSK in IPL 2023.
Dhoni might move up in the batting order and bat more aggressively
Since IPL 2020, MS Dhoni has pushed himself very much down the order to promote young and talented cricketers to the top. However, this time the scenario is different. This time Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Bravo, the two senior batters, will not be there as they took retirement from IPL.
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Moreover, Rahane, Rayudu, Gaikwad, Conway, and Ben Stokes – none of them are known to have a quickfire start to their innings in T20 cricket. So, there are high chances that MS Dhoni will not only come up in the batting order, but may also don the aggressor’s role from his younger days.
We could see MS Dhoni play at number 5 for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2023.
Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2023:
Openers: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed
Middle order: Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati
Wk: MS Dhoni
All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Bhagath Varma
Spinners: Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana
Fast bowlers: Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kyle Jamieson (ruled out, no replacement announced yet)