New Delhi: Former India batsman Aakash Chopra on Friday (September 11) has said that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have the best all-round bowling attack in IPL 2020. He also said that MS Dhoni will once again rule the roost in IPL 2020 even if he doesn’t hit the ground running with the franchise.
Chopra made this observation while doing an analysis of the Yellow Army in a video shared by him on his YouTube channel. While analysing Chopra also said skipper Dhoni is their biggest strength and called him the soul of the squad.
“MS Dhoni is the biggest strength of the team. The entire franchise is dependent on him. He is the soul of Chennai Super Kings. As long as he is there, CSK’s heart keeps beating and they move forward. MS Dhoni, the player and the captain, has a great impact,” Chopra said.
“MS Dhoni, the batsman, we haven’t seen him in a long while. There are questions as to whether he will be able to hit the ground running or bat the way he used to in the past. Keep in mind, he is very experienced, and you don’t get experience in the supermarket. This team, as I said before… Dhoni is the life and soul of this team. He is the one who is going to get the best out of everyone,” he added.
He further said, “MS Dhoni, the batsman, is important because when spin takes precedence, his influence will grow. He may not hit the ground running, but as the tournament progresses, I am pretty sure MS Dhoni is going to rule the roost.”
He also opted for the Chennai Super Kings’ spin-bowling attack as their second biggest strength, even with Harbhajan Singh having pulled out of the tournament. “Their second biggest strength is their spin department. There might have been a slight loss because of the absence of Harbhajan Singh but they still have Santner, Jadeja, Tahir, Karn Sharma and Piyush Chawla.
“If a team has five such spinners, out of which you can play two or three any time, then with the UAE conditions as the tournament progresses you will see the spinners showing their wares and that’s when they will come to the fore,” he added.
“Their Indian batting unit is another strength. If they had Raina, it could have been even better. When you have the likes of Dhoni, Vijay, Rayudu and Jadhav in your top six in conditions conducive to spin, that’s another strength. When you talk about weaknesses, there’s not much. But when you look at it closely, they have been out of competitive cricket for a while. Eventually, it catches up with you. We saw it happen with Shane Watson last year. The likes of Dhoni, Vijay, Jadhav haven’t played competitive cricket in a long while. That could be a weakness,” the former Kolkata Knight Riders played said.
Dhoni was last seen in the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand last year in England. The IPL, which is scheduled to start on September 19 will be played at three venues — Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, in the UAE.
