The first game of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League had loads of entertainment for the fans with MS Dhoni being the center of attraction. Even after relinquishing himself from captaincy duties, Dhoni held the key to CSK’s batting on Saturday evening. After losing half of the side for only 61 runs, CSK found them in all sorts of trouble.
The newly appointed skipper, Ravindra Jadeja, also found it hard to score runs. At one moment it looked like CSK won’t even cross 110. But on the other end of Jadeja, MS Dhoni was setting himself for a perfect finish. Dhoni brought his top game to earn some valuable runs at the fag end of the innings and propel CSK to a fighting total and also scored his half-century in 38 balls.
Although run-scoring was not easy at the Wankhede pitch, MS Dhoni backed himself to go deep and finish the innings on a high. And not to anyone’s surprise, he did. Dhoni started the onslaught in the 18th over against Andre Russell as he smashed three boundaries in the over. In the penultimate over of CSK’s innings, Dhoni hit a four and a six on consecutive deliveries (six off no-ball). He then hit two boundaries in the last over to help CSK post a respectable total.
This vintage Dhoni innings triggered some emotions from his fans as they wrote in unison “Thala is back”. Watch some top reactions here:
Thala Is back 💛#CSKvKKR#Dhoni@cricketaakash @IrfanPathan haa bhai Aa gaya swaad 😂 🖕 pic.twitter.com/Ngo11b8iNv
— Pawan Kashyap (@Itsmepawan07) March 26, 2022
Doesn't matter haarein ya jeetein…
Maahi ko khelte dekhna hi khud m ek jeet hai…💛💛
For us you'll be the captain forever..!!#mahimaarrhahai#CSKvKKR— Pogo…😼 (@itsmanvisingh) March 26, 2022
#Dhoni #ThalaDhoni Thala is back 🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/C1Xh2yVQsG
— kirubaharan (@kirubaharanSEO) March 26, 2022
Thala is back 💥💯🔥#Dhoni #CSK𓃬 #ChennaiSuperKings #KKRvsCSK pic.twitter.com/C2juwPORqC
— Tanuj (@5Tanuj) March 26, 2022
50* for thala 😍
I repeat definitely not! 🦁#dhoni #CSK #SarkaruVaariPaata @msdhoni #WhistlePodu #MSDhoni @urstrulyMahesh pic.twitter.com/vxe9tGVDv0— Sai Teja Raj DHFM™🔔 (@saiteja8520) March 26, 2022
Thala ne roar kr diya hai 🦁💥
— Ankit (@ixooyo) March 26, 2022
Dhoni’s innings had was an impactful one considering the match situation. CSK’s new opening pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad could not hold the fort for long as CSK lost Gaikwad on the third delivery of the first over. Conway also perished to Umesh Yadav within the powerplay. Although Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa tried to pull things back, KKR bowlers were smart enough to not give easy runs This pressure from bowlers yielded one more wicket soon when Uthappa was out stumped. Ambati Rayudu, on the other hand, became a victim of a mix-up with the captain. This regular fall of wickets put CSK in a lot of trouble but Dhoni’s
