IPL 2023: Sunil Gavaskar hopes CSK skipper MS Dhoni 'promotes himself' in batting order

MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will host the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match 17 of the IPL 2023 edition on Wednesday evening (April 12), at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. After three games, CSK have won twice and occupy the fifth position in the points table. For the Yellow Army, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner and Tushar Deshpande have done well but they have plenty of injury concerns (including that of Ben Stokes and Deepak Chahar).

Ahead of their face-off versus Sanju Samson-led RR, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar wants Dhoni to promote himself higher in the batting order. In the two outings in IPL 2023, Dhoni has come out to bat at No. 8 and returned with scores of 14* (7) and 3-ball 12. Dhoni has looked in good touch and slammed as many as four boundaries (one four and three sixes). Thus, Gavaskar wants Dhoni to make use of his good form as he feels 'he is capable of scoring big runs'.

"I am hoping MS Dhoni promotes himself higher in the batting order. So that he gets to play more than two or three overs in the games. He can make that difference for CSK with his batting because he is capable of scoring big runs," Gavaskar said while speaking on Star Sports.

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Dhoni will create history when he walks out on the field in CSK-RR clash in Chennai. He is set to play his 200th game as CSK captain, becoming the first-ever captain to reach the milestone. In 213 IPL games as captain, Dhoni has won 125 and losing 87 of them with a win percent of 58.96. Under him, CSK have won the IPL on four occasions and are aiming for their fifth title in what is expected to be Dhoni's last IPL season.