Impossible to perform if Dhoni decides to play only IPL, says Kapil
The legendary Kapil Dev feels that it will be “impossible” for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to perform well if he decides on playing in the IPL without getting any match practice, which was the case this year.
Chennai Super Kings were out of IPL playoffs for the first time in 11 appearances and Dhoni, who played competitive cricket for the first time since last year’s World Cup semifinal, scored only 200 runs in 14 games with no half-centuries and a poor strike rate of 116.
Kapil, who recently underwent an angioplasty after suffering a heart attack, wants the former India captain to play a lot more in the domestic circuit to get his form back.
“If Dhoni decides on playing only IPL every year, then it’s impossible for him to perform. It’s not a good thing to talk about age but at his age (39 years), the more he plays, the more his body will be tuned,” Kapil said.
“If you don’t play any cricket for 10 months a year and suddenly play IPL, you can see what happened. You can always have a season up or down if you have played so much cricket. It has happened to someone like Chris Gayle also,” the World Cup winning former skipper said.
Kapil feels that it’s high time that Dhoni plays some domestic cricket this season.
“He should go back to firstclass cricket (domestic List A and T20) and play there.”
The straight-talking former all-rounder made it clear that it will be a challenge for Dhoni given that he has already indicated that he is “definitely not” retiring from the IPL.
“If someone has achieved so much, the dip in form does affect and it becomes a challenge. Let’s see how he comes out of it,” Kapil said.
Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis feels that Dhoni should play in the tournament as he is still fit and motivated.
“Definitely not,” Dhoni had replied when asked whether the match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was his last game for the franchise in IPL. Du Plessis said when you talk about CSK, MS Dhoni comes to your mind. The former South African skipper said Dhoni’s yesterday answer tells you how motivated he is to play the mega event next year.
“When you think CSK you think of MS Dhoni and also because IPL needs MS Dhoni to play, the fans love him so much so why not. He still feels motivated and to pitch up every day and come and do... being a big player comes with a lot of expectation and a lot of pressure,” Du Plessis told teammate Lungi Ngidi during a chat for IPLT20. com.—