MS Dhoni should bat at No. 3 for CSK in Suresh Raina's absence: Gautam Gambhir

Two-time IPL-winning captain Gautam Gambhir has joined the long list of people who want to see MS Dhoni bat higher up the order for Chennai Super Kings in the tournament this season.

Chennai Super Kings will be without their vice-captain and highest run-scorer Suresh Raina in IPL 2020, after he decided to return home due to personal reasons.

And Gambhir feels this is the right time for Dhoni to take up more responsibility as a batsman and promote himself to Raina's slot at No. 3.

"It will be a good opportunity for MS Dhoni to come and bat at no. 3. And he has been away from the game for the last one year, so he would end up getting a lot more balls to face and then he can actually play the anchor innings as well which he has been doing for India for the last couple of years.

"So, MS Dhoni at No. 3 and then they have got depth with Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, all those guys they can come in. So, I think it



is going to be a great opportunity for someone like MS Dhoni and I am sure he is going to relish that. Also, Suresh Raina not being there, you want to have some experienced player batting at No. 3, so it could be MS Dhoni now,” Gambhir said on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper however, added that it won't be easy for Dhoni to bat higher up the order as he has not played any cricket for over a year now.

Dhoni has been out of action since India's exit from the 2019 World Cup semi-finals in July.

"He has been away from the game for the last 1 year. It's not going to be easy because IPL is a proper cricket tournament. The quality of cricket is right up there.

"When you face international quality bowlers, it's not going to be that easy. When you haven't played much cricket for the last one year, you want to get back to the best rhythm and practice as much as you can," Gambhir said.