Follow UsEven Chennai Super Kings' batting coach, Michael Hussey, doesn’t know if this is going to be MS Dhoni’s last Indian Premier League season. The 48-year-old, however, is hoping that Dhoni continues at least for a couple more years.
"Your guess is as good as mine at this stage. He keeps his cards very, very close to his chest. We are hoping he does keep going,” Hussey told ESPNCricinfo.
"He is still batting so well. He does prepare well - he gets into the camp very early and hits a lot of balls. He has been in good touch all season really. I guess we just got to try to manage him from the body side of things. He had a knee surgery after the last season. So he has been managing that from the initial stage of the tournament.
"From a personal point of view, I hope he keeps going for another couple of years. But we will just have to wait and see. He is the only one who will make that call. And he likes to sort of build the drama a little bit as well. So I wouldn't expect a decision anytime soon."
Because of the knee surgery, the Super Kings have used Dhoni very carefully this season. The wicketkeeper-batter only comes out to bat in the last two-three overs and starts swinging from ball one. The 42-year-old has been very impressive with bat, having smashed 136 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 226.66. He has been dismissed only twice this season.
"I know fans probably want to see him batting a little bit higher in the order but that (the knee surgery) is why we have had to manage him a little bit and he only comes in at the back end. But there has been no one better in being able to come in and hit the ball so cleanly from ball one than MS. He has been phenomenal."
Talking about MSD handing over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad just before the start of the season, Hussey said, "MS sort of announced that he was not going to be attending the pre-tournament captains meeting. And we're like, 'Oh, no. What's going on?' He said Ruturaj was going to be captain from then on. So it was a little bit of a shock to start with, but it has been managed really well.
"I know Stephen Fleming (head coach) had been working closely with Ruturaj in the lead-up to the tournament. In fact, he has been grooming him for a couple of years now. We have sort of known for a little while that he was the right man to take over the job when MS decided to step aside.
"MS wanted to still be here while the new captain took over, to try to help him along the way and sort of mentor him a little bit. So that's worked really well as well. And obviously, Stephen Fleming is a great role model for him (Gaikwad) as well. So it's been quite seamless actually."
The Men in Yellow have won seven of their 13 games so far but need to defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru to qualify for the playoffs. Gaikwad himself has been in impressive form with the bat, scoring 583 runs @ 58.30 and a strike rate of 141.50. He is currently the second-highest run-getter in the tournament.
"He is a great guy, Ruturaj, very calm. He is a good thinker of the game. I mean it was always going to be a massive challenge for him, you know, how do you follow someone like MS Dhoni - it was going to be tough. But he has done a great job. He has been really calm and measured on the field. I think he will just get better and better the more he does it and the more support we keep around him.
"From my point of view, the pleasing thing is, it has not affected his batting at all either. He has performed extremely well with the bat. So it has been really good so far."
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