Brian Lara shoots down major Gautam Gambhir comment on MS Dhoni on national TV

Coming back from an abysmal season that saw them placed in the bottom half of the table, MS Dhoni and the Chennai Super Kings have shown the world that they are not to be taken lightly this season. Since going down to the Delhi Capitals in Match 1, the three-time champions have won each of their games and are now in second place on the table. While his team has been faring well, the MS Dhoni IPL 2021 campaign has been underwhelming at best, with a high score of 18. 

Brian Lara contests Gautam Gambhir's plan for MS Dhoni IPL 2021 campaign

While the glory days of MS Dhoni are behind him, the veteran plays a far more important role in the side — that of an astute and experienced captain and wicketkeeper. Talking about this, West Indies legend Brian Lara opined that the 39-year-old should not need to make as much of an effort with the bat anymore, especially now that CSK had a deep batting lineup. However, Lara's well-meaning comment may cause a stir as it comes just days after former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir said that Dhoni should bat higher up the order to get more time in the middle.

Talking on Star Sports, the Windies legend added that "of course, he got the gloves in his hands, he has got to take the catches and do the stumpings. But I find that batting order is so long, Dhoni can take some rest". In the presence of more in-form players like Sam Curran, Lara remarked that Dhoni should concentrate on getting the captaincy side of his role down. "If he concentrates on that aspect of it, getting every single individual performing, they can go all the way," Lara concluded.

CSK vs KKR highlights

Taking on Eoin Morgan and his Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, CSK put on a massive 220 runs courtesy of some brilliant top-order batting by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis (95* off 60 balls). Having been reduced to 31/5 after 5 overs, KKR saw a great fightback from Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Aussie pacer Pat Cummins, who put up a tremendous 66 runs off 34 balls. Dhoni's role in the dismissal of Russell was one of the most talked-about points of the match as KKR went down by 18 runs.

CSK vs RCB live streaming details

Next up, the Chennai Super Kings will butt heads with the current table-toppers, the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match will begin at 3:30 PM IST on April 25 and will take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Like all other IPL 2021 matches, the CSK vs RCB game will be televised live in India by the Star Sports network. Live streams of the match will be available on the Disney+Hotstar platform in multiple languages.

Image Credits: PTI and Brian Lara Twitter