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Published 10:52 IST, November 3rd 2020

MS Dhoni given same yet 'big' advice by Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar for Dream11 IPL 2021

Indian veterans Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have come up with a valuable piece of advice for Chennai skipper MS Dhoni ahead of next year's Dream11 IPL.

Reported by: Jatin Malu
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Chennai's awful Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign came to an end on Sunday as they finished at the penultimate position with six wins and eight losses in 14 games. This is the first time that the Men in Yellow failed to make it to the playoffs of the cash-rich league. Looking at team's abysmal performances and skipper MS Dhoni's miserable outings with the bat, fans had started speculating that the veteran stumper will hang his boots after the ongoing IPL.

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Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have valuable pieces of advice for MS Dhoni

However, Dhoni made it clear that he might have retired from international cricket but he will continue playing in the Dream11 IPL. Dhoni had a below-par Dream11 IIPL 2020 with the bat as he could manage only 199 runs across 12 innings at an average of 28.42 and a top score of 47 not out, which is way below his usual standards. Moreover, Dhoni was seen struggling massively against the spinners and his impeccable finishing ability also seemed to have vanished.

Now, Indian veterans Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have come up with valuable pieces of advice for the legendary wicket-keeper. While speaking to ABP News, Dev said if Dhoni decides on playing only the Dream11 IPL every year, then it's impossible for him to perform. He added that it's not a good thing to talk about age but at 39, the more he plays, the more his body will be tuned.

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Dev stated that if a player doesn't play for 10 months a year and suddenly plays the Dream11 IPL, the result is often a foregone conclusion. The 1983 World Cup winning captain further said that one can always have a season up or down if cricket is played on a regular basis. He added that it has happened to someone like Chris Gayle also. Dev advised Dhoni to go back to first-class cricket (domestic List A and T20) and play there. According to Dev, if someone has achieved so much, a dip in form does affect morale and becomes a challenge. He wants to see how Dhoni comes out of it.

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Speaking about the same, Gavaskar, while speaking on Star Sports, said that being in the nets is fine for Dhoni but pointless if he does not play enough competitive cricket, particularly because he is at an age where reflexes slow down. Gavaskar reckoned that as a player, onr might feel nothing has changed and they lose a little bit of weight or go to the gym to get stronger and fitter but he opined that timing changes.

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Gavaskar made a bold prediction saying that Dhoni could also end up being among the top run-getters in next year's IPL but he stated that the 2011 World Cup winning skipper has to play domestic cricket first. It remains to be seen though whether that is a possibility. As per recent reports, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly claimed that the Indian domestic season of 2020-21 is likely to begin only from January 1, 2021 and will see many tournaments getting scrapped due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions due to it, with only the Ranji Trophy to be given utmost importance.

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SOURCE: IPLT20.COM

10:52 IST, November 3rd 2020