It was a comfortable win in the end for Chennai Super Kings against Delhi Daredevils on Monday in Pune, in a league match of IPL 2018. Once again, that man MS Dhoni blasted bowlers all-around the park and displayed a hitting masterclass against a good bowling attack.
Chennai Super Kings got a good start courtesy a good partnership between Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis at the top of the order. Watson played very aggressively and took on Delhi’s bowling attack right from the word go. But it was MS Dhoni’s cameo in the end that took CSK to an above par score on a good batting wicket in Pune.
Delhi’s innings never found momentum until Rishabh Pant started smashing the Chennai bowlers all around the park in the fourth half of their innings. There were some useful contributions by Colin Munro and Vijay Shankar but Delhi’s innings lacked a stable partnership in the middle.
Shane Watson was awarded man of the match for his brilliant knock at the top of the order, but the star of the show for CSK fans was MS Dhoni, who scored a quick-fire fifty off just 22 balls and entrained the huge crowd and all those watching on their television screens, with ‘vintage Dhoni’ sixes.
In the post match presentation ceremony, Mr. Sanjay Manjrekar asked MS Dhoni about his back problem and the CSK captain gave an answer that will win your hearts. We all know that Dhoni is a fighter and he is always willing to give his 100% in the middle.
Since the start of IPL 2018, Dhoni has been nursing his stiff back but he hasn’t missed a match and managed to keep himself ready for every game. Interestingly, with his stiff back, he has hit bigger sixes than what he has been unusually hitting with his perfect back in the last couple of years.
Coming back to Mr. Manjrekar’s question, MS Dhoni said that that his back is not good at all but he is keeping himself fit for matches by not spending too much in the practice session. He also added that he is fine with a bit of pain because he is a professional cricketer and his job is to be there for his team and give his best.
Now, this is exactly what we expect from a champion cricketer like Mr. MS Dhoni. Take a bow, sir.
