IPL 2023: WATCH- Chepauk crowd roars on MS Dhoni's entry; hits 3 massive sixes against Adam Zampa and Sandeep Sharma

MS Dhoni made 32* in 17 balls with 3 sixes and one four.

The 17^th match of the IPL 2023 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 12, 2023, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was a special one for home team captain MS Dhoni.

Dhoni, who made his IPL debut in 2008, became the first captain to lead a single franchise, CSK in this case, in 200 matches in the Indian Premier League when he walked out for the toss. He started well by winning the toss and chose to bowl first.

Jos Buttler (52) and contributions from Devdutt Padikkal (38), and 30 runs each from R Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer, who remained unbeaten took RR to 175/8 in 20 overs. Akash Singh, Tushar Deshpande, and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each for CSK.

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In reply, Ruturaj Gaikwad fell for 8 runs and though Devon Conway (50) and Ajinkya Rahane (31) made a good partnership, they found it difficult to rotate the strike and as pressure increased, CSK lost wickets. Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, and Moeen Ali all fell for single-digit scores.

This brought in MS Dhoni into the field and the Chennai crowd went crazy and roared for their ‘thala’.

Check it out here:

Dhoni began wonderfully well by hitting Adam Zampa for a six in the 18^th over to start some panic in the RR camp.

Here is the video:

Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni then got going with big shots with 40 runs needed from 12 balls. Jason Holder bowled the 19^th over and was hit for one four and two sixes by Jadeja. Sandeep Sharma bowled the last over and MS Dhoni hammered him for two sixes.

Here are the shots:

But he kept his nerves and bowled brilliant yorkers and helped RR win the match by 3 runs in the end. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 25 with 2 sixes and one four, while MS Dhoni made 32* in 17 with 3 sixes and one four.