IPL 2023: After loss to SRH, MS Dhoni sits down youngsters for lecture; Photo goes viral

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was pictured with a number of the young players of their opponents on the night, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after their seven-wicket win on April 21.

SportsTak

• Sat • 22 Apr 2023

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was pictured with a number of the young players of their opponents on the night, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after their seven-wicket win on April 21. Dhoni was surrounded by five to seven SRH players like pacer Umran Malik and Akash Tyagi.

The former India skipper spoke to the young cricketers for a bit, alongside SRH's assistant coach Hemang Badani. The official Twitter handle of IPL posted a video of the players meeting Dhoni with a caption that read, "When MS Dhoni speaks, the youth listen carefully."

Dhoni also spoke to the out-of-form Mayank Agarwal after the match. The former Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper has failed to score big this season. Against Chennai, he only managed to score two runs from his bat. This was after SRH paid big bucks to bring him in during the IPL mini-auction, i.e. Rs 8.25 crore. He has only been able to score 115 runs in the six matches he has played so far, with the highest score of 48 runs.

Surya also spoke to Dhoni

During the IPL, it is a norm that whenever there is a match in CSK, the players of the opposing teams are often seen talking to Dhoni. While a majority of them are young faces, even Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav was seen talking to Dhoni. Later, he played a tremendous inning of 43 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Match recap:
It was a dominating win for CSK, despite Openers Harry Brook (18) and Abhishek Sharma (34) setting up a 35-run partnership at the top, before a 36-run stand for the second wicket between Sharma and Rahul Tripathi (21). But the SRH batters struggled against the CSK spinners and eventually, the wickets fell like a pack of cards.

Jadeja, along with Maheesh Theekshana (1/27), put a stranglehold on the SRH batting unit after Dhoni asked the spinners to take over from overs 7 to 15. The veteran Indian all-rounder took the important wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Mayank Agarwal, while Theekshana was economical in his bowling in addition to the scalp of skipper Markram. The SRH batters found it tough to get any boundaries after 10.3 overs as the spinners maintained their dominance.

With the bat, Devon Conway accosted for most of the runs with his third straight half-century of the tournament. He was ably supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who also scored a half-century before being run out. Conway remained unbeaten as Ajinkya Rahane (9) and Ambati Rayudu (9) helped the four-time champions seal an emphatic victory.