15 April 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): Harbhajan Singh wants MS Dhoni to bat up the order in the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League 2025. He commented after the CSK captain led the franchise to a five-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants. He came out to bat at the No.7 slot and scored an unbeaten 26 runs off 11 balls, with the help of 4 fours and 1 six. Dhoni’s batting slot has led to several debates, with former players accusing him of deliberately leaving the franchise in trouble by holding himself back.
In a few games, Dhoni batted when the game was already lost, and his presence in the middle didn’t make any difference.
Navjot Singh Sidhu warned the legendary wicket-keeper of the consequences if he continued to remain in the dressing room in crunch times. He said that Dhoni’s match-winning image would fade away from the minds of the fans, including him, if he didn’t change his batting order.
Harbhajan, who played a lot of cricket with MSD, urged him to come ahead of R Ashwin and Vijay Shankar. The all-rounder batted at the No. 6 slot against Lucknow and scored 9 runs off 8 balls.
“If MS Dhoni starts backing himself more than Vijay Shankar, Chennai will win more matches in IPL 2025. Shankar is not scoring runs at a fast pace, and at least Dhoni can take singles and doubles to rotate the strike. Dhoni can hit big shots whenever he wants. We saw Dhoni of the past in the game against LSG,” Bhajji said.
Summary: Harbhajan Singh says MS Dhoni should back himself over Vijay Shankar and bat higher to boost Chennai Super Kings’ chances in IPL 2025.