
MS Dhoni’s return to mainstream cricket after a long wait of 437 days was indeed a memorable one as his team, Chennai Super Kings, secured a convincing five-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the season opener.
Batting first, the defending champions could manage 162/9 on the board. In response, twin half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu helped Chennai close the game comfortably.
The skipper was involved with the bat for a very short while as he came lower down the order with the match almost coming to an end. However, the CSK skipper did survive a caught-behind appeal in the first delivery he faced. Dhoni asked for a review after being adjudged caught-behind in the first delivery he faced from Jasprit Bumrah.
While fielding, Dhoni took two catches behind the stumps. While the second catch, which saw Keiron Pollard’s innings come to an end was simple, the first one reflected his supreme match-fitness. The 39-year-old’s full-stretched dive towards his left to complete a brilliant catch brought an early end to Krunal Pandya’s innings.
Many Dhoni supporters, including India hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, rejoiced his comeback to the sport.
Yes……… @ChennaiIPL welcome back @msdhoni. Best way to receive our captain back 🤩🤩@IPL @ChennaiIPL #imback #cricket pic.twitter.com/b1mVOwP5sH
— sreejesh p r (@16Sreejesh) September 19, 2020
Dhoni didn’t even make a run but it was all about his team’s resilience. Faf deservedly finished the match. Well done #CSK #CSKvsMI #MIvsCSK #IPLinUAE
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) September 19, 2020
Earlier during the toss Dhoni spoke on the bio-bubble environment and said that staying in self isolation is hard.
“First six days in quarantine is very difficult. You are with your family and suddenly you have to stay in a separate room… felt each individual used that time well and nobody was disappointed or frustrated,” the former India skipper said after winning the toss.
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