AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni
Former South Africa batsman AB de Villiers has said that MS Dhoni should bat higher up the order for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming IPL, saying his current position lower down does not maximize his role.Dhoni, 44, will play for CSK when the season begins on March 28. De Villiers said Dhoni’s recent trend of batting at No. 8 or 9 is limiting his influence.
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IPL 2026 should be an audition for India’s next T20I captain Touching on Dhoni’s role at CSK, De Villiers said, “It’s very complex and it’s not straightforward. Brands are built over years and CSK built this empire over many years with this figure of MS Dhoni that was always there. When you mention CSK, you immediately think of Dhoni.”“I feel in the last few years his role has been purely about keeping the brand as strong as possible. So I don’t see a role for him to bat at eight or nine and not do enough like last season,” De Villiers said, according to news agency PTI.“We know he can be impressive with the bat, but if he’s batting that low and he’s not the captain, it feels like he’s almost just filling in for the wrong reasons. There’s still room for him, but he needs to bat higher, at least at six, sometimes even at five or four.”The former South Africa captain said Dhoni should step down if he gets to bat at number 6. “I feel Rutaraj and Sanju are the perfect players to take over from MS (Dhoni). My only problem is where does MS fit in and if he doesn’t ever have that much of an impact batting at 4, 5, 6, then maybe get out of the team,” said another who may have a bigger bowl, adding: impact on the game, step in there and then MS can almost sit on the side as a mentor and still guide the guys.”De Villiers also said, “It’s a tricky situation but Sanju Samson is the right guy to take over and credit to Dhoni for hanging around and waiting for the right person to come along. If the WC is going to play, I want him to come under more pressure and be the guy to handle the big moments.”CSK traded Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of IPL 2026 auction as part of their future plans.
