WATCH: Wankhede Crowd Goes Wild As MS Dhoni Pads Up During MI vs CSK Game

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Naman Vyas

 

Saturday, April 8, Match No. 12 of the IPL 2023 featured MS Dhoni‘s Chennai Super Kings taking against the five-time defending champion Mumbai Indians. Fans at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium began yelling “We want Dhoni” when they saw him padding up in the locker room during CSK’s innings.

Saturday saw Mahendra Singh Dhoni return to Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. (April 8). It was the same pitch where, 12 years ago, Dhoni hit a massive six down the ground to win the ODI World Cup for India. The match was won by six wickets thanks to the unbeaten 91 not out scored by the Indian captain off 79 balls. On Saturday, in what may have been his final competitive game at the legendary venue, Dhoni led CSK to a victory over the Mumbai Indians

On Saturday, the first Clasico of IPL 2023 pitted four-time IPL winner CSK against MI, and the Men in Yellow cruised to a seven-wicket victory. Ajinkya Rahane, also from Mumbai, top-scored with 61 runs for Chennai off only 27 balls, and he was ably supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was not out after batting for 36 overs. Thanks to them, the nine-time IPL finalists reached their goal of 158 runs with three wickets down in just 18.1 overs.

Dhoni, who had captivated the audience with short cameos in the first two matches, did not get an opportunity to bat in the games against MI and CSK. When he began preparing to bat during the run chase, however, the enthusiastic crowd at the Wankhede Stadium chanted his name at the top of their lungs. Several videos of the crowd chanting “We want Dhoni, we want Dhoni” have since gone viral on social media.

MS Dhoni didn’t get to bat in Game 12 of the IPL 2023, but he still made his presence known by grabbing a brilliant catch of world No. 1 T20I hitter Suryakumar Yadav behind the wickets, disputing the umpire’s call, and winning on DRS.

MS Dhoni

The on-field umpire did not see a spike between the bat and the ball and ruled Surya not out, but Dhoni was confident in the decision and immediately opted for DRS without consulting the bowler.

CSK’s victory over MI was their second in as many games, moving them up to third place in the IPL 2023 standings, while MI remain winless after two games and are in eighth place among the league’s 10 teams.

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