MS Dhoni has been the flavour of this IPL season, and even though the great man could not get a fairytale ending with CSK failing to make the IPL 2024 playoffs, there is no denying the fact that MS Dhoni fans took over IPL 2024, similar to how they did in IPL 2023. While IPL 2023 ended with a CSK victory, Dhoni, instead of choosing to end his IPL career on a high, opted to play one more season to support the new captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad and fought through a nagging injury right through IPL 2024. If the fanbase and the fandom of MSD were not already enough, his commitment to the team’s cause this year took that adoration to the next level.
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Every away game that CSK played this season felt like a home game. Every stadium in India was painted yellow with a sea of MS Dhoni No.7 shirt, and for the first-time IPL coach Justin Langer, the phenomenon of MS Dhoni was something he could not make sense of. He had witnessed hero worship in India before as a player playing against Sachin Tendulkar, but this time around, experiencing the Dhoni fandom was ‘unbelievable’ for the former Australian coach.
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“It’s extraordinary. I heard about it first; then we played them [CSK] twice. They came to Lucknow, and our capacity crowd [in Ekana Stadium] is about 50,000, and honestly, there would have been 48,000 MS Dhoni number seven shirts. I couldn’t believe it, and then we went to CSK, and there wasn’t 98%; there was 100%. And it’s unbelievable. The hero worship in India is unbelievable,” said Langer while speaking on the weekly cricket podcast from BBC Sport – Stumped.
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“And look, I felt it when we played in India before as a player, particularly with Sachin Tendulkar. Then, when I was coaching with [Australia], Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, But when you get over there, it’s unbelievable,” said the 53-year-old
Sad to See Hardik Pandya Booed by Indians Crowd
However, Langer also mentioned that there is a flip side to the hero worship as well, and he witnessed that also this IPL with Hardik Pandya, the new Mumbai Indians, getting booed by the Indian crowd.
“And I saw the flip side of it as well because Rohit Sharma is a huge hero in India as India captain. And what happened with Mumbai Indians this year… Hardik Pandya took over as the captain from Rohit Sharma. The much-loved Rohit Sharma. And it was really sad to watch. You know, he got booed every game by the Indian crowds. He’s the vice-captain of the Indian T20I squad. So, I saw both sides of it. I learned this from Jonty Rhodes and Morne Morkel, who’d been to the IPL before. Rather than getting upset by it, go with the flow,” added Langer.
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