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Mahendra Singh Dhoni let go off Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captaincy but got his batting form back in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 opener. Dhoni ended the two-year drought of half-century in IPL with a 32-ball 50 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Dhoni also broke Rahul Dravid’s record to become the oldest Indian cricketer (40 years and 262 days) to hit an IPL half-century.
This was Dhoni’s first half-century after 28 IPL innings. The unbeaten half-century saved CSK from a batting collapse and post a respectable 131/5 on the board.
The 40-year-old was struggling to score till the 17th over and was batting at 16 off 22 deliveries. But after Sunil Narine’s spell, Dhoni looked for big shots against Andre Russell in the 18th over. The former CSK skipper hit Russell for three boundaries.
In the penultimate over, he put pressure on Shivam Mavi. The veteran hit Mavi for a boundary which was followed by an above waist height ball which crossed the boundary. In the final over, Dhoni hit Russell for a couple of boundaries. On the penultimate delivery of the innings, he got to his half-century with a single towards wide on. His 50-run knock included seven fours and one six.
Earlier Dhoni walked in to bat when CSK were struggling at 61/5 in the 11th over. Dhoni was vulnerable against spinners Narine and Varun Chakravarthy but surprised their spells. He shared an unbeaten 70-run partnership from 55 deliveries.
In the last season, Dhoni even struggled to get cameos under his belt. His high score in the previous season was 18 not out. He scored just 114 runs in the season. In 2020 edition, he came close to hitting a half-century but remained unbeaten for 47.
