'If I was MS, I would say 'enough'': Ex-India coach weighs-in as calls for Dhoni's retirement gets louder

Ex-India coach weighs-in as calls for MS Dhoni's retirement gets louder (PTI Photo)

It's likely that everything, from top to bottom and even beyond, will be scrutinized if you lose ten of your thirteen games during an IPL season. Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar wants MS Dhoni to say "enough" as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) switch focus to next edition after enduring their worst possible campaigns in the lucrative T20 tournament.

"I think at 43 it's very tough to play in that competitive environment. When you're 43, why this competitive environment, even if you go and play some local cricket as well, you will find how tough it is on the body," Bangar said in response to a query following CSK's most recent loss against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out show.

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"It all boils down to MS, but if I was MS, I would say 'enough'. 'Okay, I have played whatever I wanted to play, I have looked after the interest of the franchise', if there's any, if that was the motivation. But, you know, you move on.

"By you being there, if you're thinking that the transition will happen fast, there's never an ideal time to pick. So you might as well [make] peace with the fact that, 'okay, even if I leave now, the franchise will develop on its own; it will take a year longer, but I'm not going to be here for the entire cycle'. That's how I would look at MS' position if I was in that position."

Regardless of Dhoni's decision to stay or leave, CSK may be in for a makeover following a terrible season that began badly early on and progressively got worse. One setback from which CSK were unable to bounce back was the injury that claimed the captain, Gaikwad, early in the season. Between the conclusion of the current season and the beginning of the next, Bangar also hoped that CSK's strategy would undergo a radical overhaul.

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Ravindra Jadeja, another CSK veteran, is among the players who has drawn criticism. He was promoted to No. 4 and has had more problems than not.

"If there are batters right at the top who are striking really well, and you have batters below as well who are striking well in Brevis and in this case Shivam Dube - and they were hoping for better returns from all these players - do you require a player who has to do a particular job of holding that innings together as well," he responded when asked why Jadeja bats at number four whereas Sam Curran frequently bats at number three.