However, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar He believes that the responsibility cannot be placed only on the young captain. Speaking on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast, he pointed to the decision-makers behind the scenes.“This blame, I am going to put at the door of the owners and the people who make the big decisions. Because Gaikwad, before becoming captain, was phenomenal at the top of the order,” Manjrekar said.He also suggested that there should be constant spotlights all around ms dhoni For Gaikwad, the matter is complicated.“And then that thing with MS DhoniWhether he is going to play, whether he is going to be the captain, he handled it very badly. And this is where you see the sycophancy of Indian culture which has seeped into cricket as well. I mean, Dhoni not only has a fan following, there is also sycophancy around him.Manjrekar supported his point by recalling an old moment involving Dhoni, to which fans had reacted strongly.“There was [this] An example of Dhoni trying to put his bat into the crease, and it was a very close call. And I said, OK, he’s clearly short of the crease, and should be run out. They [fans] I got angry at him for saying this because it was anti-Dhoni. So somehow they missed the whole picture.”Meanwhile, Dhoni has not played any part in IPL 2026 so far after suffering a calf strain before the season.Asked whether his return might ease the pressure on Gaikwad, Manjrekar looked unsure, raising questions about how the experienced player would fit into the current set-up.“Maybe, but then you have to play Dhoni on the field. And how do you do that? I mean, increasingly, he is finding it difficult to perform well. So it was a bit of a joke when he would come down the order and play just three or four balls. That would also be publicized in the coverage – ‘What an innings.’ And this continued for four balls.“So that’s not possible now, and it was never going to be a long-term thing. So I can’t pretend to know how Ruturaj felt when MS was on the field but not captaining, whereas MS was not there and he was completely in charge,” he said.The former cricketer also broadened the discussion by comparing CSK’s approach to that of Mumbai Indians and suggested that both the franchises may be overly attached to established stars.Manjrekar said, “CSK and Mumbai Indians are guilty of getting emotionally attached to big-name, big-brand players and investing a little too much. CSK is even more so with Dhoni. It means you are not getting people who are at their peak. It is a bit like living in the past. It is just about including people who are at their peak in T20 cricket. It is a modern-day format, so you can do whatever you want with your team. “It’s best to stay current with him.”