As MS Dhoni winds down his taking part in days, he retains exhibiting us he’s nonetheless bought it. This previous Monday, the Chennai Tremendous Kings captain made headlines once more by turning into the oldest participant in IPL historical past to snag the player-of-the-match award, breaking the file beforehand held by Pravin Tambe. At 43 years and 280 days outdated, Dhoni obtained the award for his all-around efficiency. He made three essential dismissals and likewise placed on a blinding show with the bat, scoring a powerful 26 runs off simply 11 balls to assist CSK clinch a five-wicket victory towards the Lucknow Tremendous Giants on the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Earlier than Dhoni’s achievement, Pravin Tambe held the file for profitable the award on the age of 42 years and 208 days again in 2014. Apparently, Dhoni was a bit shocked to get the award this time, pondering it might need been extra appropriate for Noor Ahmad, who bowled a decent spell freely giving solely 13 runs in his 4 overs. This match marked the primary time since 2029 that Dhoni obtained the player-of-the-match honor.
On the stats entrance, Dhoni continues to increase his lead within the variety of player-of-the-match awards gained by a captain in IPL historical past. He’s now bought a complete of 17 such awards, whereas Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir sit tied in second place with 13 every. When taking a look at all Indian gamers, Dhoni is tied for second with Virat Kohli, as each have gained the award 18 instances. Rohit leads this pack with 19 awards to his title.
On this match, after profitable the toss and opting to bowl first, CSK managed to restrict LSG to a rating of 166/7, thanks partly to a stable half-century from their captain Rishabh Pant, who discovered his footing after a tough patch at first of the season. Pant scored 63 runs off 49 balls, hitting 4 fours and 4 sixes, showcasing his expertise.
As CSK chased down the goal, they bought off to an awesome begin because of debutant Shaik Rasheed, who scored 27 runs off simply 19 balls. Alongside Rachin Ravindra, who scored 37 off 22, they put collectively a promising first-wicket partnership of 52 runs. Though CSK confronted a little bit of wobbly floor in the course of their innings, Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 43, together with Dhoni’s quick-fire innings, noticed them to victory.
After the sport, Dhoni took the chance to handle his batting group, encouraging them to step their recreation up a bit. He talked about that whereas the bowling workforce had been performing admirably, there was positively room for enchancment on the batting facet. “As a bowling unit we’ve executed properly. As a batting unit, we are able to do higher,” he stated through the post-match speak. It’s clear that for Dhoni, the drive to enhance stays as sturdy as ever, even towards the tip of his exceptional profession.
