"He is the Don of cricket" - Aakash Chopra picks MS Dhoni as CSK's biggest strength heading into IPL 2024

Aakash Chopra has picked MS Dhoni as the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) biggest strength heading into IPL 2024.

Dhoni, who has led the Chennai-based franchise to five IPL titles, is the joint-most successful skipper in the prestigious league's history, alongside Rohit Sharma. He will want to add a record sixth title to his kitty in what could be his last season as a player.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Chennai Super Kings' biggest strength is their skipper.

"The name of their biggest strength is MS Dhoni because this captain knows how to manage the team. He is the Don of cricket and his name is MS Dhoni. He has the Midas touch. Whatever he touches, turns into gold. He provides freedom to people," he elaborated (5:30).

The former India opener cited examples to point out that Dhoni knows how to extract the best from his players.

"You suddenly saw the best of Dube, the best of Rahane - there are plenty of examples of players who have flourished under him. MS Dhoni is a very strong factor for me because a captain has a huge role in T20 cricket and you won't get a bigger captain than him easily," Chopra stated.

Both Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane excelled for CSK in IPL 2023. While the left-handed batter amassed 418 runs in 14 innings at an excellent strike rate of 158.33, the right-hander smashed 326 runs in 11 innings at an even better strike rate of 172.48.

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"The batting order is solid" - Aakash Chopra on CSK's other strength

Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been a successful opening combination for CSK. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra chose the Chennai Super Kings' batting as their other strength, highlighting that they have enough backups if Devon Conway is unavailable.

"The second strength I see in this team is that the batting order is solid. Ruturaj Gaikwad consistently scores runs at the top. If Devon Conway is not there, it could be Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra or Ajinkya Rahane," he said (6:10).

"You will see two of these three players playing, among whom Rahane will be confirmed and the other could be either Rachin or Daryl Mitchell. If they don't wish to play Moeen Ali, both can also play," Chopra added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that CSK have a plethora of all-rounders in their lineup.

"Then you will see Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni. The team has batting depth and MS Dhoni showed last year that he is contributing as a batter. It's a team filled with all-rounders," Chopra observed.

Chopra concluded by pointing out that the defending champions have proper batters till No. 9, with seam-bowling all-rounders Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur also in the mix. He added that barring Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, everyone can wield the willow effectively.