As Mahendra Singh Dhoni walked out of the dugout with few minutes left for the toss at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, Ahmedabad, cameras followed him with singer ‘King’ performing in the background. As Dhoni was walking towards the pitch his opening bowler Deepak Chahar deliberately threw the ball on the ground near him and prompted a response from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain.
The 78-second video was shared on Indian Premier League (IPL) Twitter account. Later, Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first in IPL 2023 final against Gujarat Titans (GT).
After choosing to bowl first, Dhoni thanked the crowd which suffered the most on May 28 as relentless rain led to the final getting postponed to the reserve day. The 41-year-old also said that it is unfair to have a rain-curtailed short game.
“Yesterday we were in the dressing room. As a cricketer you always want to play. It was the crowd that suffered the most. Hopefully we can entertain them. Pitch has been under cover for a long time, but throughout the tournament the pitch has behaved well over here. Quite happy it will be a 20-over game we'll be playing. Serves justice to the tournament like this,” Dhoni told Ravi Shastri.
The CSK skipper did not make any changes to the winning combination that emerged victoriously against GT in the IPL Qualifier 1 at the same venue.
In a recent interview, Chahar revealed how Dhoni ensured that he backed him to play all the games for CSK after warming the benches for Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS).
“Interestingly, Fleming had selected me for my batting than my bowling after I hit five sixes during a practice match. Unfortunately, I suffered a hamstring injury and had to sit out for most of the 2016 season. In the 2017 edition, the team’s combination was set, and I got to play a few games. In 2018, CSK picked me in the auction, and Fleming was reluctant to play me, while Mahi bhai disagreed and stated, he will play all 14 games this season,” Chahar said on Breakfast with Champions.
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