IPL 2023Vintage MS Dhoni thrills Chepauk fans with sensational cameo against Rajasthan Royals

By India Today Sports DeskChennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni turned back the clock and smashed his way to a sensational 32 off 17 balls against Rajasthan Royals, in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday, 12 April. Coming into bat in the 16th over of the game, when CSK needed 63 runs to win from 5 overs, Dhoni and Jadeja added rapid runs, and almost took Chennai to a victory.

Runs flowed in the final 2 overs of the match where MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja took Jason Holder and Ravindra Jadeja on. With 40 needed from the final 12 balls, Jadeja took 19 off the penultimate over. In the final over of the game, Dhoni hit Sandeep Sharma for 2 sixes in the first 3 balls, but was not able to take CSK over the line.

Dhoni, playing his 200th match as the Chennai Super Kings captain walked into the ground amid huge roars and showed some stunning stroke play during his 12-ball stay. Dhoni’s innings had 3 sixes and a 4, where he took on Adam Zampa and deposited him for a massive six.

Dhoni’s batting sent the crowd into a frenzy and all of a sudden put the visiting side under pressure, at a time when it was looking comfortable for them. However, things completely swung to the favour of Chennai in the final three overs, but Sandeep Sharma held his nerve in the final ball of the game, when CSK required 5 runs from the final ball of the innings.

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This was Chennai’s second loss of the season, their first at MA Chidambaram Stadium. MS Dhoni spoke after the match and said that the batting order needed to take responsibility for the loss, because the bowlers had done their job well in the first innings of the game.