MS Dhoni, the batter, back with a bang as CSK leave Vizag with confidence despite defeat

It was by no means an ideal outing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday as the defending champions suffered their first defeat of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season after pulling off consecutive victories by a handsome margin. The ‘Yellow Army’ would end up up falling 20-run short of the target after conceding 191 to the Delhi Capitals (DC), a side they had beaten in each of their last three meetings before the evening fixture of the Sunday double-header and had a comfortable lead in their head-to-head record.

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The rot would begin from the very onset as the five-time champions would muster just 32 runs in the powerplay while losing both openers along the way.

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And just when things were starting to brighten in the middle overs, a double-strike by Mukesh Kumar in the 14th over and another in the 16th over, appeared to have sealed the deal for the Capitals, who were eyeing their first points of the season.

CSK’s collapse highlighted they aren’t an invincible bunch, and can actually be beaten with proper planning and execution. Despite the eventual defeat, neither fans, nor the players appeared too unhappy at the end.

Read | Vintage Dhoni, Pant back to his best and more top moments from DC-CSK contest

For starters, it’s only their third match in what is a long campaign, where they will be playing another 11 matches in the league stage and are heavily favoured to progress to the playoffs.

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The big takeaway for the Super Kings was MS Dhoni dishing out a vintage MS Dhoni innings after walking out to bat for the first time in the season.

‘Mahi maar raha hai’

Dube’s dismissal brought Dhoni to centre stage. He was fully padded up for the first time in a competitive game since last year’s IPL final - against Gujarat Titans - in which he had been dismissed for a golden duck.

He hadn’t entered double digits in the last six outings of the 2023 season, and would’ve been itching to make the kind of impact with the bat that he used to in his heyday, when he was leading both the Super Kings and the Indian team.

CSK needed 72 off 23 deliveries with five wickets in hand, the odds firmly in Delhi’s favour at that point. However, such is Dhoni’s aura that his team and his fans refuse to give up even in the direst of situations, and especially with another proven finisher in Ravindra Jadeja for company.

And what further boosted the hopes of the sizeable CSK fan turnout at Vizag’s ACA-VDCA Stadium was Dhoni getting off the mark in style by pulling Mukesh — who was breathing fire at that point, having collected three wickets for just two runs — for a four behind square leg. The crowd went wild after the shot, and were in for quite the ride for the remainder of the evening.

Mukesh would fire a full, wide delivery on the final ball of the same over, which was promptly scythed in front of square on the off side, making it two boundaries in three deliveries for MSD. Against Delhi’s best bowler of the evening no less.

The volume would go even higher in the following over when the Ranchi lad smashed left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed, the recipient of the Player of the Match award for figures of 2/21 from four overs, for his first maximum of the evening. Like Mukesh in the previous over, Khaleel made the mistake of offering the veteran keeper-batter width outside off. And Dhoni isn’t one to turn down such gifts.

MS, however, saved the best part of the show for the very end, against Anrich Nortje in the final over, albeit when the target was already beyond CSK’s reach. Playing without the pressure of having to pull off the impossible for his team, smashing the leading South African pacer for two fours and two sixes in the last six deliveries of the match.

Watch | MS Dhoni entertains Vizag crowd with explosive hitting in DC vs CSK game

From going inside out over extra cover for to a one-handed slower one over wide long on off a low full toss, it was MS Dhoni at his absolute best. And the manner in which he was timing the ball, despite having not played the game for a year, would’ve made his teammates wonder if he should have walked out to bat earlier.

“Let’s get him up the order. I think he did not miss the middle of the bat tonight. That was just incredible to witness. I think Jadeja, throughout the other end, was actually struggling to find the middle. They bowled really well to him but MS got there on strike.

Vintage Dhoni 👌#TATAIPL fans were treated to some strong hitting by MS Dhoni

Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#DCvCSK | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/eF4JsOwmsa

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 2024

“Obviously, in his first ball to the boundary and then from there, he just barely missed the middle of the bat. It was great to watch and I think the fans want to see him getting up the order and keep doing it more often,” Australian batting star Steve Smith said on Star Sports after the match, commenting on Dhoni’s entertaining cameo that ultimately went in vain.

While he remains sharp as ever behind the stumps, as evidenced by his catch to dismiss Vijay Shankar in their landslide victory over Gujarat Titans, Dhoni’s now back with a bang with the bat in hand as well. It appears the long-haired look that Dhoni is sporting in what many firmly believe is his final IPL season appears to have revived his old form, both with bat and with gloves.