MS Dhoni’s undefeated streak as a batter in the Indian Premier League season 2024 ended on Wednesday at Chepauk. Tasked with finishing things off in style for the umpteenth time, Dhoni challenged Punjab Kings bowler Arshdeep Singh in the last over of the Super Kings innings. Dhoni began the 20th over by hitting a boundary against Team India’s new T20 World Cup recruit.
As the pacer delivered two wides in the last over, CSK legend Dhoni ensured Arshdeep stayed under pressure after leaving to an overwhelming cheer at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. During his brief appearance, Dhoni showed no mercy by declining to switch up the attack. When Dhoni sent CSK batsman Daryl Mitchell to the non-striker’s end, it’s interesting to note that he nearly sold his buddy down the river. On-air pundit Ravi Shastri made the brazen claim that Mitchell nearly ran two.
The final touches came from Dhoni, who had missed an Arshdeep bouncer on the previous delivery before hitting a huge six off the PBKS pacer. But a runout came after a six on the last ball. In a last-ditch effort to clinch the double, Dhoni was dismissed by Jitesh Sharma and Harshal Patel.
Dhoni was removed from the game during the CSK innings for the first time in the IPL 2024 league phase. This season, the former captain of India has gone seven games without a loss. The 42-year-old, before CSK’s match against PBKS at Chepauk, blasted 96 runs at an astonishing strike rate of over 260.
“I trusted myself and knew that they wouldn’t be able to hit if I bowled my best ball. About the plans to bowl it fuller to Dhoni, I didn’t want to since he hits it good when you push it fuller. During the innings break, Chahar said to Shastri, “I think we conceded about 8–10 runs more than what we started with, but this is still a good target to chase down.”
