Even though enjoyed his best Indian Premier League (IPL) last year scoring 455 runs in fifteen innings at an average of 75.83 but Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming has hinted that Dhoni might not bat higher up the order in this year's edition.
"Dhoni batted pretty much [at] No. 4 last year but we do use him in a little bit of flexible role, so that won't change. His form has been outstanding in the last ten months, so, we won't be getting tricky because we have a new player as well [Jadhav], which is great. So, we are really happy with the [batting] order and the thoughts around that," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Fleming as saying.
CSK have four players namely, MS Dhoni, Kedhar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja who are on the World Cup radar, and Fleming said that managing their workload would be of key importance in this year's edition of the league.
"Yes, this [workload management] is going to play a part, the reason I say that is England 18 months ago stipulated when their players will be leaving early; Australia are the same. It has had an impact. When we sit and pick as a team, we were mindful of how many players will be leaving early and what the balance would be like. So, it has had an influence," Fleming said.
Fleming was seen pleased with the current balance of the team and welcomed the addition of Mitchell Santner, who had missed the entire IPL 2018 due to injury.
"Yeah, Mitch has a got a great record in the subcontinent and it's good to have him, we obviously missed him last year - so again it is like a new signing. Just the quality and game plan. We have a strong top order and we have good variations [in the attack]," Fleming said.
CSK would look to continue their dominant run in the league as they are currently the defending champions.
Chennai Super Kings play Royal Challengers Banglore in the IPL opening match on Saturday, March 23.
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