MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings defeated Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans at IPL Qualifiers 1 in the IPL Playoffs stage. CSK has entered the IPL finale to be held on May 28
There were speculations about Dhoni's retirement from IPL after he expressed his desire to retire from the cash-rich league. He had said that before retiring, he would want to play in front of a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium, CSK’s home ground
Though, after CSK vs GT match yesterday, commentator Harsha Bhogle asked about his retirement plans. Dhoni said, "I don't know, I have 8-9 months to decide. I have ample time to decide. The auction is in December. I will always come to CSK. I have been out of home since January, been practising since March, so we will see"
Amid the speculation around Dhoni's retirement from IPL, his fans are showing all their love for him. One of his fans gifted him a sculpture of MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
This seems to be a perfect gift for Dhoni fondly called as 'Thala'. Last year during an interview, he said that he wants to play his last T20 match at Chepauk stadium, another name for MA Chidambaram Stadium
Dhoni was roped in as CSK captain in 2008 when the Indian Premier League began its journey. Since then, he has been taking the Chennai IPL franchise to new heights
Two years after taking over the CSK captaincy, MS Dhoni became the first Indian captain to lift the IPL trophy in 2010
MS Dhoni fondly called ‘Mahi’ by his fans ensured a consecutive win for CSK in IPL 2011 as well, when they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the final. With this, he became the first IPL captain to defend and retain the title
CSK faced a two-year ban in 2015 by BCCI following a spot-fixing judgement by the court. In 2016, MS Dhoni was auctioned for the new IPL franchise, Rising Pune Supergiant. He took over as its skipper
In 2018, MS Dhoni returned as CSK’s captain, after the ban was lifted. He helped the team reclaim its IPL trophy by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad
Two years later, CSK under the leadership of MS Dhoni once again won the IPL tournament. CSK have the highest win percentage of matches at 58.98% among all teams in the IPL
Ahead of the GT vs CSK IPL match, Hardik Pandya paid a tribute to MS Dhoni. He said in a video tweeted by MS Dhoni, "I’ll always be an MS Dhoni fan. He’s a dear friend and a brother to me. You need to be a devil to hate someone like MS.”
- When Sunil Gavaskar took MS Dhoni's autograph
- Dhoni showed his powerplay display of stroke-play by scoring 20 runs off nine balls against Delhi Capitals
MS Dhoni presented personalised CSK jerseys to real-life 'Elephant Whisperers' Bomman, Bellie, and Kartiki Gonsalves after training at MA Chidambaram stadium