MS Dhoni came out to bat at the astonishingly low batting position of No. 9 as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 50 runs in IPL 2025 on Friday. Chasing 196, CSK looked down and out, but their talisman Dhoni walked in after seven wickets had fallen, with the target almost out of reach. Former India cricketer and cricket expert Manoj Tiwary slammed the decision to have Dhoni bat at No. 9, and even stated that CSK support staff fear telling Dhoni to bat higher up the order.

“It’s beyond my understanding how a batter like MS Dhoni, who can stay unbeaten after scoring 30 off 16 balls, is not coming up the order. You are playing to win, right?” Tiwary said, speaking on Cricbuzz.

“He has the maximum strike rate among all the CSK batters. If you know you can do it, you should look to bat higher and try to win the game,” Tiwary stated.

Dhoni walked in to bat when CSK were tottering at 99/7, needing 98 runs to win in just 28 balls.

The legendary former India and CSK captain was heavily criticised for sending players like Sam Curran and Ravichandran Ashwin up the order.

“I would just request that he come out in public and tell us why you are batting so lower down the order. You saw the visuals, right? The crowd was dancing when Dhoni was walking out to bat. The crowd goes there to see this,” Tiwary stated.

Tiwary then made the bold claim that the CSK management are afraid to advice Dhoni in this regard.

“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. This is what I think” Tiwary said.