Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni struggled behind the stumps in the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Dhoni wasn’t agile donning the wicketkeeping gloves as he has struggled with his knee injury of late. In the slog overs, he dropped Andre Russell’s regulation catch that left everyone stunned at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
In the 18th over of KKR's innings, left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman bowled a sloer off-cutter. Russell flashed his bat but could only manage a thick outside-edge. Dhoni moved to his right, slower than usual, the ball hit his right hand's glove and resulted in a drop.
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was left stunned by the dropped catch as it looked like a regulation catch for Dhoni. Mustafizur held his head too as he walked back to his bowling mark. The Caribbean all-rounder was batting on just five runs when the chance was put down.
However, the dropped chance did not turn out to be expensive for CSK. Big-hitter Russell in the next over hit Tushar Deshpande for a boundary and got caught on the next delivery. He departed for a run-a-ball 10. Deshpande bowled it in the slot but Russell failed to time it and got caught by Daryl Mitchell.
Dhoni bats in Chennai
Later, in the run chase, Dhoni got a promotion in the batting order. He walked out to bat at no.5 after Shivam Dube lost his wicket to Vaibhav Arora. CSK needed just three runs. Dhoni did not finish the game in style against left-arm spinner Anukul Roy. He scored just a single from three balls as CSK beat KKR by seven wickets to end their unbeaten run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. This was the first time Dhoni walked out to bat in front of Chennai crowd in the season.
Gaikwad got nostalgic after he finished the run chase with a boundary. He registered his maiden half-century as CSK captain.
“Little nostalgic for me. Remember my first fifty in IPL, Mahi bhai was with me and we finished the match in same situation,” he said.
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