Coming out to bat for the first time in over ten months, Mahendra Singh Dhoni rolled back the years to unleash his vintage, unadulterated version at the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday (31 March). The former Chennai Super Kings skipper played an exhilarating cameo, which saw him scoring 37 runs off merely 16 deliveries against Delhi Capitals.
Dhoni stepped into the middle when Chennai were in a precarious position, having just lost an in-form Shivam Dube, and requiring 72 runs in the last 23 deliveries.
The 42-year-old showed no signs of rustiness whatsoever, as in just the first delivery that he faced, Dhoni managed to pull a Mukesh Kumar short ball for a boundary. In that same over, he struck another boundary through extra cover.
Among the more memorable shots from the brisk cameo came in the 18th over, where the five-time IPL-winning captain went down on one knee to dispatch a Khaleel Ahmed delivery over cow corner for a maximum.
The onslaught continued till the last over, with the veteran striking a couple of fours and as many sixes against South African speedster, Anrich Nortje. Both sixes came off full-tosses, with the first one being launched square of the wicket into the leg side, while the last six went over covers.
Chennai eventually went on to lose the match by 20 runs, accumulating only 171 runs whilst facing a target of 192. Albeit, the crowd in Visakhapatnam, who were treated to a 148-run knock by Dhoni in an ODI match between India and Pakistan in 2005, will be content with the momentary-yet-impactful re-run of the wicketkeeper-batter's exploits.
Interestingly, this was Dhoni’s first 35+ score in the IPL in nearly two years, with the last of such instances being a May 2022 match against Mumbai Indians. Having not gotten a chance to wield his willow in the first couple of matches, this knock also ensured Dhoni’s record of never missing out on batting in three consecutive T20 matches remains intact.
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