On October 31, 2005, a young Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a special innings that saw India chase down Sri Lanka's 298 runs to secure a six-wicket victory at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. 18 years, three ICC and four Indian Premier League (IPL) trophies later, the wicketkeeper-batter, who is now known as captain cool, recalled that special innings in what might be his swansong at the Jaipur-based stadium, home of the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
"This is a very special venue, my first ODI hundred in Vizag gave me 10 games but the 183 I made here gave me another one year. It was great to be back here," he said during the post-match presentation.
As sweet as the memory was, it would have been a bitter one as well as his team the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost by 32 runs courtesy of some brilliant power-hitting by the RR batter. Dhoni was of the opinion that his side lost the match in the first six overs as the visitors gave away too many runs during that period.
Opting to bat first, RR started brilliantly, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (77) and Jos Buttler (27) sharing an 86-run opening stand in just 8.2 overs, including 64 in the first six overs.
"They scored quite a bit above par. We gave away too many in the first six. At the same time, wicket was great to bat on," Dhoni said after the 32-run loss. "Bowlers bowled well in the middle overs but a lot of edges went for boundaries, at least 5-6 went for them and that had made an impact. They had par-plus and we couldn't get a good start in the power play with the bat."
"We had to assess what a good length is, as captain you tell them but initially we have away a few boundaries and after that you're always playing catch up," the former India skipper added.
The 41-year-old then praised the young duo of Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, with the latter scoring a 15-ball 34 towards the end. "Yashasvi batted really well, was important to go after the bowlers and it was important to take calculated risks. At the end of the innings, Jurel batted well but I think it's the first six where it got away from us," he said.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana went for runs on Thursday, giving away 48 off his four overs but Dhoni defended him. "I felt Pathirana's bowling was good, he didn't bowl badly. I think the scorecard doesn't reflect how well he bowled."
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