IPL 2024: CSK's Biggest Worry Ahead Of 17th Season And It Is Not MS Dhoni's Fitness

If Devon Conway fails to recover in time and miss the whole IPL season, Dhoni will need to find his replacement very soon. It could be Rachin Ravindra, who too is a left-handed batter.

MS Dhoni's CSK.(Image: ANI)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are looking for their record sixth IPL title when they begin their season on March 22 with the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The MS Dhoni-led side had won the championship last year with Ravindra Jadeja playing a heroic knock in the final against Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans. It will be interesting to see how Dhoni, who is 42 today, goes in a new season. Dhoni's fitness will be a concern as he has had problem with his right knee.

Dhoni had been seen, earlier in IPL 2023, playing with a strapped knee. That is a reason he comes way too down in the batting order. Dhoni manages his injury well a he needs to keep wickets for 20 overs to both spinners and pacers. Keeping at the age of 42 is not a very easy thing to do, especially when you play cricket only for 2 months out of 365 days. 

Having said that, this troubled knee is not the biggest concern for Dhoni. Dhoni is a sort of captain who does not like to lead using the laptop. By that, we mean he is not a huge fan of data science deciding which players should play against which opposition. He backs his instincts and likes to have a core group of players playing all matches. One of them at CSK is opener Devon Conway.

Net Up. Fun _#WhistlePodu

_: Rohan Mishra pic.twitter.com/HybPOuK3TW

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 8, 2024

Conway is currently injured. He is out of action for 8 weeks. He hurt his thumb during the T20I series between New Zealand and Australia. He also underwent a surgery and is likely to miss a initial phase of IPL 2024. This is a huge blow for CSK as Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad's opening combination has been one of their biggest strengths.

Rachin Ravindra also had a troubled knee during the same T20Is but he ha recovered in time and should join the CSK squad as soon as the Australia Tests are over.

Additionally, CSK's middle-order batter Shivam Dube missed the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy 2024 due to a side strain and one is not sure whether the all-rounder will be back for the final against Vidarbha starting March 10. Dube had an outstanding Ranji Trophy season where he amassed 407 runs in 5 matches for Mumbai and hit two centuries and fifties each.