Former India captain Gautam Gambhir said MS Dhoni failed to lead Chennai Super Kings from the front during their 16-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 tie in Sharjah on Tuesday.

Gautam Gambhir was critical of MS Dhoni's approach to the 217-run chase, saying his final-over flourish was of no use. Gambhir said if any other captain had done something similar, he would have received a lot more flak.

Gambhir's comments come after Dhoni came up with a strange approach as CSK failed in their chase against RR at the Sharjah Stadium.

Dhoni dropped himself down the order and sent the likes of Sam Curran, debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kedar Jadhav even as the asking rate was climbing steeply however Faf Du Plessi ensured CSK remained in the hunt in the game with his fifty.

When Dhoni finally came in at No. 7 in the 15th over, CSK needed more than 100. Dhoni showed no signs of urgency as he was happy, knocking singles around. Dhoni was 9 of 12 at the end of the 18th over and he hit his 1st six in the 20th over. Dhoni followed it up with 2 more big sixes in the final over but CSK had lost the game by then.

"See, if someone else would have done this, some other [batsman] captain had batted No. 7, he would have got a lot of flak. It is MS Dhoni - probably why people don't talk about it," Gambhir was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"When you don't have Suresh Raina, you're making people believe that Sam Curran is better than you. You're making people believe that Ruturaj Gaikwad, Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, all these guys, are better than you. "MS Dhoni batting at No. 7? And sending [Ruturaj] Gaikwad before him, Sam Curran before him. Makes no sense to me. In fact, you should be leading from the front. And this is not what you call leading from the front. Batting at No. 7 when you're chasing what... 213 [217]? The game was over. Faf was probably the lone warrior. Yes, you can talk about MS Dhoni's last over [when he hit three sixes], but it was of no use to be honest. It was just all personal runs." MS Dhoni had defended his decision to bat at No. 7, saying he did not have a lot of match practice in the lead up to their tie against RR. Dhoni also said the early stages of the tournament gives them a chance to experiment with thier team combination.