NAVI MUMBAI: MS Dhoni, arguably the greatest captain and finest wicket-keeper batter India has ever seen, is in the final stages of his glorious career.
The next few games could be the last that his legion of fans could see him in action in flesh and blood.
When the next IPL starts in 2023, MS Dhoni will be close to 42 years and chances are that he would prefer a youngster to don the gloves for CSK.
Perhaps keeping this in mind, when quizzed about his future by commentator Danny Morrison Dhoni had said, “You will see me in yellow, this one or some other one, we don’t know.’’
All his retirements in international cricket over different formats have come in a quiet manner without much fanfare.
In fact, last season he had hinted that he wished that his IPL farewell was at Chepauk, the home ground of CSK.
Due to Covid situation in the country all the matches are in Maharashtra so fans were certainly disappointed.
CSK had a poor start this season and Ravindra Jadeja had handed over the captaincy back to Dhoni mid way through the tournament.
Sunday’s game against Delhi capitals was a do-or-die one for CSK. They had lost seven out of ten games and would be watching the results of the other games closely, hoping for a mathematical chance to make it to the playoffs.
Dhoni would certainly try hard to go out on a high, but for that CSK players need to pull up their socks and give a memorable farewell to their beloved skipper.
All said and done, irrespective of the results, it is time to savour the presence of the genius in action in the next few games as the world will get a chance to celebrate one of the finest captains in the history of the game.
Put into bat, CSK openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad started with a bang. Ruturaj stepped out and carted the first ball from Anrich Nortje for a huge six over long on.
This had a ripple effect as Conway carted India left-arm spinner Axar Patel twice over the ropes. The way the duo began, Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant was in a dilemma as to how to contain the CSK openers.
Both Conway and Gaikwad made best use of the powerplay restrictions, adding 57 runs in the first six overs. They also carried forward the momentum into the middle overs.
No bowler from Delhi could contain the duo. Conway notched up three consecutive boundaries off Kuldeep Yadav to show his class.
When well set for another big score, Gaikwad (41) skied a short ball from Nortje with Axar Patel at mid wicket lapping up the offering.
Thereafter, Shivam Dube joined the party with Conway, but the latter was unlucky to miss his century by 13 runs.
Towards the end skipper MS Dhoni, with his fireworks entertained the crowd, smashed 21 from eight balls as CSK posted 208 for 6 in 20 overs.
In reply, Delhi lost KS Bharat cheaply. David Warner (19) fell for the guile of Maheesh Theekshana. Pant tried to counterattack, but a two-wicket over from Moeen Ali meant Delhi were down to 82 for five after 10 overs.
From there, they never really recovered and were eventually bundled out for 117 in 17.4 overs, falling short by 91 runs.
Ali was the pick of the bowlers for the four-time champions as the England spinner claimed three wickets. Dwayne Bravo, Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh picked up two wickets each.