As if Kevin Pietersen being ruled out of the IPL wasn’t a blow severe enough for Rising Pune Supergiants, the team has to deal with reliable opener Faf du Plessis’s unavailability for the remainder of the season.
du Plessis’s finger, which he injured while fielding against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, has been diagnosed as a fracture and he has been ruled out for six weeks.
The South African has already left the Supergiants camp.
“Faf has gone back to South Africa. It’s not an ideal situation, we would have liked to have a settled combination. But these injuries mean more changes,” said the Supergiants head coach Stephen Fleming on Thursday.
du Plessis’s injury may result in skipper M.S. Dhoni going up the batting order. With Steve Smith not being at the peak of his form and the uncertainty over the date of Usman Khawaja joining the team as Pietersen’s replacement has made the Supergiants’ middle order little thin. It has left too much burden on the shoulders of the consistent Ajinkya Rahane.
While Fleming wasn’t averse about Dhoni being promoted, he stressed on Dhoni being at his best in the role of a finisher.
“Look, we have been through this for years now. There are different roles to Dhoni, the first and most effective is closing an innings,” said Fleming.
“But the team is not just going to sit around Dhoni. We have got Morkel, (Thisara) Perera, (Mitchell) Marsh, who have got hitting abilities.”
Dhoni has faced just 66 balls in the tournament and Fleming indicated that the team has factored in the fact that he hasn’t been getting as much time in the middle as the team would ideally like to.
“He is one of the most destructive in the world but there is also an opportunity where he can be sent down (the order),” Fleming said.
