Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni is usually known for his many positive milestones in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as at the international level. However, the 40-year-old star is now stuck with a personal low when he got dismissed for just three runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday (April 9), his lowest score against the 2016 champions.
His wicket fell in the 18th over when Dhoni pulled a shot off the bowling of South African bowler Marco Jansen who made his IPL debut. The top-edge found its way into Umran Malik's safe hands at fine leg.
The Chennai-based franchise were sent in to bat first by SRH skipper Kane Williamson, and faced another batting collapse, this time at the hands of the SRH bowlers. Only Moeen Ali crossed the 30-run mark for CSK. Dhoni and Shivam Dube (3) were the only CSK players to score in single digits. Despite the two single-digit scores, CSK managed to post 154/7, thanks to skipper Ravindra Jadeja's 15-ball 23.
Dhoni has had an eventful IPL career after leading CSK to four titles in 14 seasons of the IPL. Against SRH, he has played 16 innings and scored 477 runs at an average of 59.63.
His highest score against the same opponents was an unbeaten 67 back in 2013 when the then skipper of CSK guided his team to victory in the final over of the match.
After relinquishing the team's captaincy to Jadeja ahead of the ongoing season, Dhoni has notched 92 runs in four matches. His best performance this season has come against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where the veteran scored an unbeaten 50 and lifted his team to a total of 131. However, they were unable to defend the below par total.
The Super Kings have not yet justified their tag of defending champions this season, with three losses in as many matches.