It’s strange and rare that fans would applaud and raise the decibel levels by several notches when a player of the team they’re cheering is dismissed. Something similar happened recently at the Chepauk Stadium when Ravindra Jadeja was dismissed in the final over of Chennai Super Kings’ innings against Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023.
As Jadeja reached the dug-out, after a gap of 1426 days, out walked Chennai’s favourite son and CSK captain MS Dhoni to bat in front of a packed arena with a sea of Yellow army at their loudest, giving a surreal welcome to one of the finest cricketers in history.
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Thala didn’t disappoint. He lasted three deliveries. And in that shot duration, he gave the crowd a show that was worth every penny they would’ve spent for CSK’s first home match in nearly four years.
Mark Wood, quickest bowler in the world currently, was smacked for two humongous sixes off successive deliveries by Dhoni. One over third man, the second over deep square leg.
The crowd went berserk.
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Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra summed up Dhoni’s connect with CSK and their fans perfectly. “MS Dhoni scored 12 runs. The margin of CSK’s win was 12 runs. Amazing Thala. This is a love story written in heaven,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra said Dhoni seemed to have turned the clock back.
“MS Dhoni was up against Mark Wood – perhaps the quickest bowler in the world today. First ball, outside off – he cuts it away for a six over third man. I was like wow. Second ball, short and outside off. Now this is a tough shot to play. He hits another six. And I’m wondering if this is the Dhoni of 2011 or 2023? Unbelievable shots. After 1426 days he’s playing the first match in Chepauk, play just three deliveries of which first two result in six against the world’s fastest bowler. Unreal, surreal,” Chopra said.
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CSK bounced back from their defeat to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 opener to beat Lucknow Super Giants for their first win of the season.
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