Credit: IPL/X
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stand-in captain MS Dhoni looked surprised after receiving the player of the match (POTM) award following his team’s five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Chasing a score of 167, Chennai witnessed themselves in trouble after losing a half of their team at a score of 111 in 15 overs. With 56 required off 67, veteran Dhoni held his nerves and produced a blistering innings of 26 off just 11 to help his team seal the victory with three balls to spare.
Earlier, the visitors looked disciplined and restricted Lucknow to a score of 166/7. Noor Ahmad bowled a thrifty spell of 0/13 in his four overs and came out as an impactful bowler for CSK. Following the game, when Dhoni was declared the player of the match (POTM) in the post-match presentation, he said the Afghanistan spinner deserved the award as the youngster along with Ravindra Jadeja bowled extraordinarily with the new ball and reinforced the side’s position in the contest.
“Even today I was like, ‘Why are they giving me the award?’ I feel Noor bowled really well. With the new ball and when Noor and Jaddu bowled four-five overs together – these were the two phases where we did really well," said Dhoni after the match.
MS Dhoni becomes oldest player to win Player of the Match award in IPL
MS Dhoni has now registered a unique feat on his name. The CSK skipper now became the oldest IPL player to win the player of award in the IPL. The 43-year-old broke the record of Pravin Tambe, who became POTM at the age of 42 years and 208 days while serving Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2014.
Dhoni last won the award in IPL 2019 against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. In Lucknow, the star player became player of the match after 2174 days. Besides his rapid knock against LSG, Dhoni also chipped in with a catch and stumping in the first innings.
