IPL 2018: What should MS Dhoni do to have a successful campaign this year

MS Dhoni is a legend of the game, he is one of the best captains and definitely one of the best finishers in the world. But MS Dhoni isn't the same batsman as he used to be. All the cricket commentators and experts have stated that MSD needs to come in at no.4 or no.5.

In the last couple of years, it has been observed that Dhoni has struggled in his first few balls, he has been able to hit boundaries only after facing 15-20 balls.

Here, we will be looking at 3 things Dhoni must do to succeed in this season.

---

#1 Rotation of strike

Dhoni has struggled to rotate the strike in his first few balls

MS Dhoni hasn't been able to rotate strike on a frequent basis in his first 10-15 balls. He has to improve on this aspect of his game to succeed this year. He has been accumulating a lot of dot balls which adds pressure on his batting partner. His strike rate in IPL last season was only 116.

In IPL 2016 and 2017, he was at his best when he batted at no.4 and no.5 with his strike rates higher than 135 at both the positions whereas his strike rate at no.6 was a very poor 91. These stats tell us that Dhoni needs time to settle in before attacking the bowlers. Dhoni has looked clueless on most occasions while facing his first 10-15 balls.

Even if Dhoni doesn't bat at no.4, he must ensure that he rotates the strike on a frequent basis and doesn't build pressure on his partner. If he comes in to bat at no.4 and gives himself time to settle in, he will definitely succeed this year.

#2 Adopt a different game plan against spinners

MSD has struggled against spinners in the recent past

MS Dhoni has been struggling against spinners in the last 2-3 years. He has had trouble facing all types of spinners but it has been the leg spinners and the left arm spinners who have troubled him the most. Considering the fact that all teams have quality spinners, Dhoni will have his task cut out. He will be playing 7 of his 14 matches at Chepauk where the ball turns a lot. This will make it harder for Dhoni who hasn't been able to, either rotate strike or attack the spinners.

Dhoni's economy rate against left-arm spinners is only 6.49 and against right-arm spinners, it is a marginally better 6.77 in all types of T20 matches. He had been dismissed by spinners 5 times last season. Now people might think that he was dismissed by spinners only 5 times but, he was dismissed after playing a lot of dot balls against them. In the last season he played 115 balls of spin, he had played 65 dot balls and played only 50 run scoring shots. His dot ball percentage was 56.52. He scored only 97 runs against the spinners at a poor strike rate of 84.37.

Looking at these stats, for a successful IPL campaign this year, Dhoni must play the spinners well and try taking the attack to the spinners.

#3 Reinventing himself

Dhoni must reinvent himself

MS Dhoni must reinvent himself and become an unpredictable batsman. MS Dhoni's range of boundary shots is very less as they include muscling the bowl on the off side and hitting the bowl down the ground. The bowlers have studied Dhoni's batting over the years and understood his go-to shots. So, the bowlers have started bowling yorkers or low full tosses at the 4th or 5th stump, from such an angle it is difficult to either muscle it onto the off side or hit it down the ground.

In such situations, Dhoni just tries to smash the ball and he misses it on most of the occasions, this also increases the number of dot balls. So, Dhoni must play the ball down the ground on such occasions. He must also play the sweep shot and the flicks on a much more frequent basis as these shots are very productive, they can either produce boundaries or at least produce singles. He must reinvent himself if he wants to improve on his strike rate.