Defending champions Chennai Super Kings hit the ground running in front of a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. As expected, the loudest cheer was received for skipper MS Dhoni who walked out to raucous applause and frenetic cheers.

However, the biggest surprise of the say was when an enthusiastic fan managed to evade security and rushed on to the field in order to catch hold of the skipper. Never the one to miss out on fun, Dhoni decided to evade him as he ran circles around L Balaji only to be chased around by the fan. Even as security came on to the field to haul the streaker away, Dhoni walked up to him and shook hands in a heartwarming gesture.

Catch Me If You Fan #AnbuDen Version! #SuperPricelessThala @msdhoni and the smiling assassin @Lbalaji55! #WhistlePodu 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/xvqaRKp9kB

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 17, 2019

Dhoni, who will lead the defending champions, holds the key to the fortunes of his side and his form with the bat and behind the stumps will be closely observed considering he remains India’s number 1 choice in the World Cup.

“I think Virat certainly depends a lot on MS Dhoni in One Day Cricket, for him to have those proper field placings. So that is something he probably had missed in the last two matches. And if you look at last 10 or 15 overs – the second half or the final powerplay Virat is generally manning the boundary. So yes, when MS is there he is on the boundary line and suddenly he had to man the last two overs and the last ten overs under pressure. So yes he certainly depends a lot on MS Dhoni,” former Indian team captain and coach told CricketNext in a recent interview.

First Published: Mar 18, 2019 14:12 IST