'MS Dhoni should tell in public why he's batting lower down the order': V Sehwag, Manoj Tiwary mince no words as RCB humble CSK

Virender Sehwag and Manoj Tiwary were among the many people who questioned why MS Dhoni was batting just ahead of the tailenders for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The criticism over the former captain's contributions to the team with the bat became louder after Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK was hammered by RCB for 50 runs on Friday. Chasing 196 at Chepauk, the home team was restricted to 146 after a batting collapse.

Despite the top-order failing to fire, MS Dhoni didn't promote himself up at the familiar Chepauk turf. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin batted ahead of him and the game was very much lost by the time he walked in at number nine. Some late pyro works ensured the veteran wicketkeeper remained unbeaten on 30 off 16 balls, which further fuelled the criticism.

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When you can middle the ball and strike at a better strike rate than anyone else in the team, walking out when the match is all but lost is unacceptable, many people pointed out. Virender Sehwag, MSD's former international teammate, said that he was not surprised at all by Dhoni's decision to walk out so late. The former Delhi captain believes Dhoni has made it clear that he was not going to face more certain number of balls. The best he was going to do was finish the innings with a late flourish. RCB was the better side at Chennai and Dhoni promoting himself wouldn't have made much difference to the result, he opinioned.

"I am not surprised. It's not like if he came on to bat earlier, anything about this match would have changed because of the way RCB was playing. This is something he and his team have decided. He said that he would only play a certain number of balls. He always comes to bat during the 17th or 18th over," Sehwag was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

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Dhoni's former teammate Manoj Tiwary, meanwhile, said that the decision-makers at CSK should have the guts to ask the legend to batter higher up the order if the team wants to win. But, he doubted whether they would ever muster the courage to do so. Otherwise, "Thala" should tell the public the logic behind his late cameos. 

"CSK coaching staff do not have the guts to tell MS Dhoni to move up the order. I think they will never be able to tell him. Once he has decided, that's it... If you know you can do it (bat at a good strike rate), you should look to bat higher and try to win the game. I would just request that he come out in public and tell us why you are batting so lower down the order," Tiwary reportedly told Cricbuzz.