After remaining in the dressing room during CSK’s batting innings in their first two matches, MS Dhoni came out to bat – to swing his willow – in CSK’s third match, against Delhi Capitals.
On Sunday night, the crowd at the ADA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam an MS Dhoni special, a proper blast from the past, as the 42-year-old hammered 4 fours and 3 sixes in his innings of 37* runs in 16 balls after coming in to bat at number 8.
The match seemed a foregone conclusion when Dhoni came out to bat, with CSK’s score being 120/6 in 16.1 overs when chasing 192. While Delhi did win the game by 20 runs, the crowd in the stadium that was largely wearing yellow and the CSK fans felt satisfied as they got to see their favorite MS Dhoni turn back the clock against DC pacers.
After his stunning innings in Vizag, fans were wondering whether Dhoni should come higher up in the order, ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Sameer Rizvi. Jadeja has been ordinary with the bat in T20 cricket while Rizvi is young and playing his maiden IPL season.
However, IPL legend and former CSK batsman Ambati Rayudu believes this is unlikely to happen. He reasoned that following his blitz against Delhi, Dhoni would be more assured that he should come only in the final few overs.
Speaking with Star Sports, Rayudu said, “I feel that after this knock, he will definitely not come because he has now got the confidence that he can win matches for CSK by going down the order. This is actually a setback to our hopes of seeing Dhoni bhai bat up the order.”
MS Dhoni has been playing incredibly well in the pre-season: Stephen Fleming
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming heaped praise on Dhoni’s work ethic following his knee surgery last year. That Dhoni was able to smash these boundaries, including a jaw-dropping one-handed six to Nortje, is astonishing considering he doesn’t play domestic cricket either.
“It was beautiful, wasn’t it? And even the one-handed one over midwicket. He has been playing incredibly well in the pre-season,” Stephen Fleming said. “He’s coming back from quite a serious operation. He has been rehabbing well and his batting has been superb. And that performance gave a positive vibe towards the end of a tough day. So, to get to within 20 [runs] is important run-rate wise and the way he played was spectacular.”
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