"Dhoni just wanders out when he needs to" - Daniel Vettori on whether CSK veteran should bat ahead of Jadeja in IPL 2022

Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori sees no particular reason for MS Dhoni to bat ahead of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ravindra Jadeja in IPL 2022. The Kiwi legend pointed out that both Dhoni and Jadeja are good readers of the game and can take a call over who should go into bat depending on the match situation.

Dhoni walked into bat at No. 7 in the chase against the Mumbai Indians (MI). Jadeja batted ahead of him and was dismissed for 3. With the match on the line, MSD played a brilliant cameo of 28* in 13 balls to lift Chennai to a memorable win.

According to the IPL 2022 timetable, CSK will next take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Asked whether Chennai should promote Dhoni ahead of Jadeja in the batting order for the remaining games, Vettori disagreed and told ESPNcricinfo:

“Dhoni just wanders out when he needs to wander out. That’s what he has always done. He’ll read the situation and, being the former captain, you don’t really want to get in the way. If you push him for that, it can be trouble. Between the two (Dhoni and Jadeja) of them, they understand the right time to bat. They’ll read it in the right way.”

Sharing his views on the same topic, South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir opined that MSD should go in ahead of Jadeja if the team is chasing a big score. He said:

“If CSK are chasing a big score, then Dhoni should bat before Jadeja. But Jadeja has also been really good. He’s a proper batter and can go before Dhoni. That doesn't matter. It’s more like what situation Dhoni can go in.”

Chennai needed 17 to win off the last over against Mumbai. Dhoni slammed Jaydev Unadkat for a six and two fours to lift the IPL team to a thrilling last-ball win.

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“Moeen is more like a game-changing player” - Imran Tahir on whether CSK should stick to Santner

For the match against MI, Chennai dropped Moeen Ali and brought Mitchell Santner into the playing XI. The Kiwi all-rounder was dismissed for 11, but picked up the key wicket of Suryakumar Yadav with his left-arm spin while conceding only 16 runs in three overs.

Tahir, though, would prefer Moeen Ali in the CSK playing XI, given his game-changing ability. The 43-year-old explained:

“If you are playing Santner, you can play him as a bowler and take advantage of his batting when he goes down the order. But if you are playing Moeen Ali, you play him as a proper batter. He can also bowl off-spin to the left-handers. For me, Moeen is more like a game-changing player, so I’d go with him. He should play.”

Moeen has had a poor IPL 2022 campaign so far. In five matches, he has only scored 87 runs, with a highest of 48. He is yet to take a wicket with his off-spin.