MS Dhoni lift his third IPL trophy on Sunday. (Source: BCCI)
On Sunday, Chennai Super Kings’s numbers read as such: nine IPL seasons played, reached the IPL playoffs in all nine of them, with a final appearance in seven of them and as things transpired, a third title followed by the end of the night in Mumbai. CSK had earlier won the IPL in 2010 and 2011 and, at Wankhede Stadium, with an eight wicket win, bagged the third trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Coming back from a two year suspension, CSK’s desire to win was just the same if not more. Dhoni’s ability to lead teams in major tournaments and in major games once again came to the fore as CSK chased down the 179 run target with some comfort. By lifting the trophy aloft, Dhoni won his tenth major title as skipper of a team.
Put in to chase 179 runs in the final, CSK started off slowly before Shane Watson turned on the fireworks and stood unbeaten on 117 runs, from 57 balls, at the end as players donning yellow celebrated. Many had written off CSK before the tournament even began due to the aging squad. However, the Dhoni-captained unit used that age factor to their advantage by capitalising on the experience of players in crucial games and to remain unaffected despite shifting of their home games from MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai to the MCA Stadium in Pune.
When asked how this win compares to the two times he had won in the past, Dhoni said, “Very difficult to recall what the earlier championship wins were. A lot of people talk about stats, so tonight is 27th, my jersey number is seven and this is the seventh final for us. Enough reasons to win it. But none of these reasons matter, what matters is that we’ve won it in the end.”
List of major trophies won by MS Dhoni
3 IPL titles (2010, 2011, 2018)
ICC World Cup (2011)
T20 World Cup (2007)
Champions Trophy (2013)
2 Asia Cup crowns (2010, 2016)
2 Champions League T20 titles (2010, 2014)