IPL 2022: MS Dhoni can continue playing IPL, he is certainly turning up for CSK: Matthew Hayden

Former Chennai Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden reckons MS Dhoni can continue playing in the IPL as he is certainly doing a good job for the franchise. Dhoni has delivered the goods for the franchise as a batter and as a leader once again.

MS had scored a fifty in the first match of the season against KKR and had also pulled his team from the jaws of defeat against Mumbai Indians when he smashed 17 runs in the last over against Jaydev Unadkat.

Dhoni was a lone ranger for his team against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday as he scored 36 runs from 33 balls to help his team get to 97 runs. None of the other CSK batters could get going as the team kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Dhoni, 40, is still playing at the top of his fitness and he is a livewire between the stumps. Dhoni will be 41 in a couple of months and it will be interesting to note whether he will return to CSK. The veteran has revealed he will be back in CSK next year but as a mentor or as a player, is yet to be seen.

“How fast he is running between the wickets, my goodness! This is a guy that has really gone beyond the age of a normal athlete within the competition of this level. Good on him. If he wants to keep playing, he can because he is certainly turning up for his team,” Hayden told Star Sports.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja was given captaincy onus at the start of the season but CSK could only win two games out of their first eight matches. Thus, Dhoni decided to take back the baton as Jadeja could not handle the captaincy pressure.

Hayden feels Dhoni is imperative for CSK from the leadership point of view.

“It’s so important from a leadership point of view that you have someone like an MSD at the helm.

“Just having the certainty that you can pick someone in the team and then go through picking the rest of the team. That confidence he brings to the team, it’s all the things we love about MSD,’ Hayden said.

CSK will next take on Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.