When MS Dhoni takes the field for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on September 19, he will do so as a former India cricketer. Having announced his retirement from international cricket last month, the upcoming IPL is a fresh chapter in Dhoni’s long, illustrious career. There will no longer be any chatter about his India future, and his each and every move is unlikely to be dissected as much as it once was.
Given that his legacy is set in stone and he has nothing to lose from hereon, it might just free up the 39-year-old and enable him to take a bolder and less circumspect approach to his batting. If he does so, he will simply be rewinding the clock to his younger days. He, of course, has played no competitive cricket since the 50-over World Cup in July last year, but the word is that he is looking in excellent touch at the nets.

While his batting approach will be keenly observed, this season could prove to be one of his tougher assignments as captain. With the recent withdrawals of senior pros Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh in addition to less practice time for the team due to a longer quarantine period, CSK’s preparations have hit several roadblocks.

The squad, too, contains a lot of players who are in their late 30s and need to be managed wisely. Judging by Dhoni’s own record, though, these adversities are sure to get his competitive juices flowing and spur him on to try and lead CSK to their fourth IPL title.

CSK’S SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths: Experienced players who have been there, done that. The likes of Dhoni, Watson and Rayudu know what it takes to deliver under pressure.
Weaknesses: With Harbhajan pulling out, CSK lack a wily off-spinner in conditions that will assist spin. Raina’s departure leaves a huge void at the No. 3 position.
Opportunities: A retired Dhoni has nothing to lose now. He can bat with complete freedom.
Threats: They have had less preparation time in UAE compared to other teams due to Covid cases in the team. Cannot rely on just the senior players.

TOI’s CSK XI: Shane Watson, M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir