Cricket News

‘Is it going to be the decline of Chennai’- Mathew Hayden issues big warning for Chennai ahead of the Indian T20 League 2023

The 16th edition of the Indian T20 League is set to kickstart on March 31st, where defending Champions Gujarat will take on four times Champion in the opening match of the season at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Chennai will be looking to change their fortunes after a disastrous season in 2022 where they finished in the ninth position after winning only four out of their 14 league matches. Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the skipper in the previous season after MS Dhoni decided to step down before the season. However, Jadeja was relinquished from the captaincy mid-season after a series of losses and Dhoni took over again.

Former Australian batter, meanwhile, Mathew Hayden has raised an alarming concern for Chennai pertaining to captain Dhoni in the upcoming season. Hayden feels that the 2023 season could be a significant season for Chennai with Dhoni and Ambati Rayadu. The former Chennai batter said that Chennai can either bring their experience to the best use or could lead to a second successive poor season.

“They have had this for a little is that they’re kind of a Dad’s Army – a tagline that they seem to have received. This year is a little bit the same as well. MS Dhoni is of an age like Ambati Rayudu where they really need to be key players, not just have the potential as leaders of the team. So those two key players in particular, with that age of their side, is it going to be experience or is it going to be decline of Chennai?” said Hayden in a conversation with Star Sports.

Ben Stokes to replace Dhoni as the skipper ?

Although, this is expected to be the last outing of Dhoni in Chennai Yellow. However, it looks like the franchise has already found his replacement as they bought England all-rounder Ben Stokes for INR 16.25 crore in the 2023 auction. Chennai have also roped in Ajinkya Rahane for INR 50 Lakhs for the upcoming season.

Chennai squad for Indian T20 League 2023:
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Sisanda Magala