 "Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni struck four fours and a six during his match-winning knock against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow. AP")
The 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has witnessed a series of comebacks over the last few days. It began with Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashing Punjab Kings by eight wickets on Sunday and continued with Mumbai Indians handing Delhi Capitals their first defeat of the season the following day. Both SRH and MI collected their second wins of the season and rekindled their hopes of making the playoffs after going on a losing spree.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) joined that trend in the latest game of the season, against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on Monday. After starting the season with a victory over MI at home, CSK’s performance plummeted like never before as they lost five matches in a row to sit at the bottom of the table and face the prospect of failing to make the playoffs for the third time in five years.
What further compounded their situation was a season-ending injury to captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, which forced veteran wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni to lead the celebrated franchise for the first time since he led them to their fifth title in 2023.
And just when things reached an all-time low with the humiliating defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders at Chepauk, CSK reignited their fans’ belief in them with a victory in their away game against LSG , snapping their five-match losing streak in the process.
The spin department as well as the openers hand a hand in that victory. Noor Ahmad (0/13) and Ravindra Jadeja’s (2/24) economical spells ensured the Super Giants barely crossed the 160-mark at the end of their innings despite captain Rishabh Pant scoring his first half-century of the season .
Impact Shorts
More ShortsLater, Shaik Rasheed (27) proved an instant hit at the top of the order as he stitched a 52-run opening stand with Ruturaj Gaikwad (37) inside five overs.
There was, however, just one talking point after CSK chased down the 167-run target with five wickets and three deliveries to spare, and that was the return of Dhoni the finisher.
Dhoni silences his critics, for now
‘Captain Cool’, after all, had come under immense criticism this season for failing to deliver with the bat and refusing to walk out to bat until there were only a handful of overs left in the innings, batting as low as No 9 in a couple of those matches.
And while he did score 104 runs in five outings before Monday’s game in Lucknow with a series of cameos, none of them had come in a winning cause. Until Monday.
His struggles with the bat and his fitness this season has had little bearing on his popularity, as Dhoni once again walked out to a deafening roar at an away venue that was bathed in yellow. He joined a fairly set Shivam Dube at the centre after Vijay Shankar became leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi’s first and only wicket in his final delivery of the evening.
Despite CSK’s blazing start, Ravi Bishnoi and Rathi had managed to the visiting team’s charge in the middle overs and brought LSG back into the contest with a flurry of wickets. Dube, additionally, wasn’t able to tee off and was batting on 17 off 20 deliveries at the time of Dhoni’s arrival.
‘MSD’ lifted the pressure that was starting to build for CSK with back-to-back boundaries off Avesh Khan’s bowling in the 16th over, slapping the ball through extra cover in the penultimate delivery before steering the next one deliberately past the keeper. And in the following over, he smashed a one-handed six off Shardul Thakur over deep midwicket as the celebrations among the yellow-clad supporters in the stands intensified.
For the first time in the season, the legendary finisher was taking charge in a chase in a pressure situation when the game was still in hand. It was his decision to go head-on against the LSG attack that suddenly tilted the game in CSK’s favour in the death overs.
His presence helped Dube break the shackles as he smashed Thakur for a four and a six in consecutive balls in the penultimate over – the second one off a Free Hit. With 19 runs coming in the penultimate over when 24 were needed off 12, the final over became a mere formality for Dhoni and Dube.
Fans would have hoped for Dhoni to hit the winning runs as well; the skipper, who remained unbeaten on 26 off 11 balls, was happy to let his partner have that honour. And later in the evening, he was adjudged the Player of the Match for his game-changing knock, becoming the oldest player to receive the honour at the age of 43, though in typical ‘Mahi’ fashion he felt the award should have gone to Noor, who had conceded just 13 runs from four overs earlier in the evening.
Qualifying for the playoffs still remains a Herculean task for Chennai, who remain at the bottom of the table despite collecting their second win. However, with Dhoni the batter back with a bang, they have a lot better chance at pulling off a heist in the second half of the season.