Ashwin reveals new potential role for Dhoni in IPL 2026: 'He'll not bat at No. 9, he'll come out at...'

Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) spinner R Ashwin has said that MS Dhoni might take up the number three spot for the franchise this year since his way of practicing for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season suggests new motivation.

Even at 44, Dhoni is still thrilling fans in the IPL by being a threatening hitter lower down the order. However, last season, he was consistently pushed down the batting order, sometimes as low as number nine, which also attracted criticism.

Ashwin believes this season things will be different and Dhoni might also get promoted to number three in the batting line-up.

Ashwin says Dhoni practicing like he’ll bat at No. 3

The former India captain has already started preparing for the next season of IPL and recently a video of him padding up for his batting went viral on social media. Ashwin senses fresh energy in Dhoni’s preparation which suggests that he will bat higher in the batting order this season.

“Dhoni looks set to play, as he has already started practising. He’s looking fit. Some said he may not play in the 11, or this might be his last season. But it looks like he got motivated seeing Imran Tahir. Looking at him, it doesn’t look like he’ll bat at No. 9.

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“He looks like he’ll come out to bat at No. 3 in the Powerplay and be the enforcer, the way he has begun practice,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

With CSK bringing in Sanju Samson via trade and also splurging a record Rs 14.3 crore on uncapped Kartik Sharma, Dhoni might be relieved of wicketkeeping duties this year. That will help his body and he will be able to further put down his focus on just batting.

Dhoni has been consistently pushing himself down the order in the CSK batting line-up, preferring to face lesser deliveries. However, he still manages to hit some big sixes whenever he comes out to bat.

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Ashwin also praised CSK’s scouting and said that their batting line-up will put the other sides under pressure.

“They’ve scouted very well and boast a powerhouse of a batting lineup. With Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Karthik Sharma, and Prashant Veer in a batting lineup, barring the inexperience in the last two, you ask, ‘How are teams going to stop this batting lineup?’ Even a 200 to 200 becomes really difficult for teams to stop CSK," added the spinner who played for CSK from 2009 to 2015 and then again in 2025.