Is MS Dhoni still good enough to bat?
By: Vaidyanathan Ram
Tags: Ms Dhoni, Cricket, Chennai Super Kings, Ipl

Is MS Dhoni still good enough to bat?

MS Dhoni, Player and captain of one of the most successful IPL teams, the Chennai Super Kings has played a vital role for this side since the dawn of the Indian Premier League. His contributions whether it be finishing matches, taking his team to the play-offs almost every time, recognizing talent or even if it’s him being a role model for the growing talent in the country, he can be easily go down in the hall of fame as the biggest icon of the league. But as the legend is getting older and has retired from the international form of cricket, the powerful finisher which we once knew is slowly fading from our eyes. There has been a big debate over the past two years whether he should retire from the IPL or not due to his poor performances. MS Dhoni has made it clear that he is going to be a part of the next edition of the IPL and wants to retire on Chennai soil. There is no need to prove whether MS Dhoni is a good captain or not so let’s have a look at his performances over the years so we can see if he can still add value to his side with the bat.

To analyze his batting performance the ball by ball data of all editions of the IPL was considered (found here). MS Dhoni has appeared for a total of 220 matches out of which 193 of these matches he had come to bat. For each stat which we want to look at, we are going to compare his overall performance with his performances over the last two years. We are going to look at the games up till the 2021 edition of the IPL. With this data we will be able to get a clarity if we can expect a comeback from Thala.

Before we dive in, let’s have look at his overall stats in the IPL :

Let’s get going!

Runs per Inning

MS Dhoni runs per inning over the years

The graph shows the average of runs MS Dhoni scored in each season and the not out factor was not considered. MS Dhoni has been known for his consistency with the bat and his average peaked to 34.6 in 2019 but dipped by more than double in the next year and followed by another 40% decrease in the next year. One thing to be noted is that the Chennai Super Kings had very successful opening partnerships in 2021 which resulted in MS Dhoni coming in the death overs most of the time but the games where he did spend some time on the crease, he couldn’t make a significant impact.

2. Strike Rate

MS Dhoni strike rate over the years

The graph shows a very consistent strike rate over time except a bad season which MS Dhoni had with the Rising Pune Supergiants in 2017. There is sharp decline after his extraordinary comeback in the years 2018,19. MS Dhoni comes usually as a finisher and a strike rate which is close to 100 is shocking and this could probably be due to his dot ball percentage and six hitting ability.

3. Dot Ball Percentage

MS Dhoni dot ball percentage over the years

The graph shows the percentage of dot balls that MS Dhoni plays every inning over the years. MS Dhoni has been known as one of the quickest between the wickets and he usually likes to give himself some time to analyze the pitch before firing. MS Dhoni does have some issues against spinners and often tends to find fielders within the inner circle and couldn’t push for singles over the past two seasons. He had a staggering dot ball percentage of almost 50% in the recently concluded edition.

4. Six Hitting Ability

MS Dhoni sixes over the years

MS Dhoni has been known as a big six hitter and he often finds himself on the list of most sixes hit in the season with his highest record being 30 sixes in 2018 where CSK won the title. Over the past two years his six hitting ability has dipped by 300%. MS Dhoni has played lesser balls in 2020,21 but this is very unlike MS Dhoni where he struggles to clear the boundary.

5. Running Between Wickets

MS Dhoni doubles and triples over the years

The above graph shows how effective was MS Dhoni in converting singles to doubles and triples. He has been the fittest and quickest runners between wickets but over the past two years there has been a decline is his single conversion rate. MS Dhoni does look in the fittest of shapes and we did see him push himself a lot but this low conversion rate could be due to lack of practice after his retirement or the hot and humid conditions in the United Arab Emirates.

6. Strike Rate in Death Overs

MS Dhoni strike rate in death overs over the years

MS Dhoni has usually found himself coming to the crease around 85% during the death overs where he has been very effective. He is a player who can soak in pressure and has won a lot of games for CSK. His strike has been explosive during the death overs consistently. The experience MS Dhoni has in the death overs really helps him to get the better of the bowler and we saw that in the match between CSK and DC (Qualifier 1) where he won them the match by scoring 18(6)* striking at 300.

7. Team Contribution

MS Dhoni team contribution over the years

We are finally going to be looking at the contribution MS Dhoni has for his team in each season. He has been a very consistent performer and is an essential to have in team because he can win you games with his bat and his captaincy. But over the past two years he hasn’t played a big role when it comes to batting. In 2021, where CSK had won the title, MS Dhoni just had a 4.57% contribution with the bat. If you look at it in a positive way, we can say that the team doesn’t need to depend on MS Dhoni to come and steal the game from the opponents. We could say that he is definitely shaped the team in such a way that each player should take up the responsibility and ensure that the team doesn’t need to solely depend on 1 or 2 players.

CONCLUSION

From the above data it is evident that MS Dhoni’s performance has declined drastically in each department. What could be the reason for this drop?

MS Dhoni had retired just before the commencement of IPL 2020 and prior to that he did not play any form of cricket after the 2019 World Cup. Towards the 2021 edition of the IPL too MS Dhoni did not get any match practice so this factor could be a result of his dip because the current generation is rapidly evolving playing multiple forms of cricket in many leagues.

Another factor could be the venue. The 2020 and 2021 IPL were played in the United Arab Emirates apart from the first leg of 2021 IPL. The climatic conditions are difficult to play in and with MS Dhoni aging, it makes it more difficult to keep himself extra fit. If we look at IPL 2014 where the first leg was played in UAE, MS Dhoni didn’t face any difficulties in combating with the pitch conditions and his record was very good with the bat that season so this wouldn’t be valid to question his poor performances over the past two seasons.

Finally, if we look at MS Dhoni’s strike rate in the death overs, it has been consistent throughout. So it would be a very good idea if MS Dhoni’s sole purpose is to bat in the death overs rather than pushing himself up the order so he could add very good value to the team with the bat. Judging by the trend where MS Dhoni had tough years with the Rising Pune Supergiants and had a monstrous comeback in the next two years, I hope we could see our Vintage Thala one more time before he hangs his boots.