IPL 2021: Are CSK thinking of replacing MS Dhoni with Narayan Jagadeesan?
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni hasn’t had the best of times since the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). After failing to make the playoffs, CSK lost their opening match in 2021 against Delhi Capitals (DC) by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The 39-year-old Dhoni’s form with the bat in hand hasn’t been great either. In the first game, he bagged a duck after fast bowler Avesh Khan rattled his woodwork. In the meantime, the Super Kings seemed to have sparked some speculations.
In a post on Instagram, they uploaded a picture of batting coach Michael Hussey and wicketkeeper Narayan Jagadeesan. As per rumours, CSK might be looking at Jagadeesan as a replacement for the Jharkhand-born Dhoni.
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Jagadeesan not getting enough chances in MS Dhoni’s presence
Jagadeesan, mostly, has had to warm the benches with Dhoni as the first-choice keeper. In 2020, he made his IPL debut for the Men in Yellow where he played five matches and scored 33 runs with a top score of 33 itself. Overall, in T20 cricket, the right-hander has scored 702 runs at an average and strike-rate of 35.10 and 125.35 respectively to go with four half-centuries.
In the meantime, ahead of their second game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 16, head coach Stephen Fleming stated that fast bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Jason Behrendorff won’t be available.
Ngidi, recently, joined the Super Kings after playing two ODIs against Pakistan. Behrendorff, on the other hand, was roped in as a replacement of fellow Aussie paceman Josh Hazlewood.
“Ngidi won’t be available. He won’t be arriving for the next game. So losing Josh Hazlewood, which was the plan to have him available for these games is a blow simply as an option up front. Ngidi will be arriving soon,” Fleming the quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.
“Behrendorff would be following that. [Bowling] It’s an area that we are probably short on. But we still look at the Indian bowlers and we have international bowler Sam Curran,” he added.
After the fourth game of IPL 2021 between PBKS and Rajasthan Royals (RR), CSK are sitting at the bottom of the points table with a net run rate of -0.799.
