The 11th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is around the corner and all the teams have started their initial preparations. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are coming back after 2 years ban. The excitement among the fans is very high as one of the most successful teams CSK is returning.
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CSK though have been hit by the injury of Santner, who was supposed by CSK’s trump card this time round, but a knee injury during the England series at home meant that he was ruled out of cricket for 9 long months.
However, in a recent interview, CSK’s Coach Stephen Fleming stated that they are not looking for Santner’s replacement now and also confirmed Dhoni will bat up in the order this time round.
Fans for so long have been batting to see Dhoni come up the order as they feel he has so much more to offer as a permanent number 4. And finally someone has come out and acknowledged the fact.
“It’s not a necessity straightaway. It’s nice to have an option for later if we have any injury concerns to other players during the tournament. MS will bat relatively high. It’s not necessarily a position with him, but a time that we may choose depending on what conditions we see. But he will definitely play a more prominent role as a batsman. We’ve picked Jadhav, Rayudu, Jadeja & Bravo so we can plan the middle phase.” Fleming said
Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja would be the spinners making it to the XI for CSK(in the absence of Santner). Karn Sharma could also get a sniff if Bhajji doesn’t perform according to expectations in the initial few games.
CSK begin their IPL 2018 campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Saturday (April 7).
