Picture Credit: Instagram
MS Dhoni is a legendary name in Indian cricket. While he is among the finest wicketkeeper-batters that the country has produced, his ability as a finisher in a white-ball game is world-famous. Moreover, it is his legacy as a captain of the Indian cricket team that has gone on to shape many careers and inspire several others to take up the sport.
It should not come as a surprise then that emerging cricketers idolize Dhoni and it is their dream perhaps to pick up his brains, strike a conversation and learn from the World Cup-winning captain. Delhi Capitals' all-rounder Lalit Yadav went one step further as he not only got to meet Dhoni and have a conversation with him but was even part of the opposing dugout and observed him from close quarters.
Post the match, the two seemed to have had a cricketing conversation and Dhoni also obliged by signing Yadav's jersey, a picture of which the Delhi Capitals star shared on his social media.
"Dreams do come true ? Dare to dream?❤️☮️ @mahi7781 @delhicapitals @iplt20," he captioned the picture.
Check out the post here:
Talking about the match, it wasn't the easiest wicket to bat on but thanks majorly to Ambati Rayudu's unbeaten 43-ball 55, the Men in Yellow batted first and managed to post 136-5. Later on, Delhi Capitals also had to sweat it out in the middle but eventually sealed a win with 3 wickets in hand and 2 balls to spare.
Axar Patel (2 for 18) bagged his second successive Player of the Match award for the Rishabh Pant-led franchise even as Shikhar Dhawan top-scored for the team with his 39. In the end, it was Shimron Hetmyer's unbeaten 28 from 18 which helped the Capitals get over the line.
Despite CSK's second successive defeat in the tournament, head coach Stephen Fleming said that he would take two defeats in the league stage than one in the business end of the tournament.
"I'd rather have two defeats [Super Kings lost their previous game as well, to Rajasthan Royals] now than in the two semi-finals if I ever had a wish list," he said after the match as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"Today was good, today was scrappy and I think there were a lot of mistakes on both sides. Sometimes, when you've qualified, I know there are one or two [things] that we were trying hard for... and things do change a little bit," he added.