The IPL 2020 began with Mumbai Indians (MI) taking on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the tournament opener at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. The event that marked the beginning of the IPL 13 was the toss.

The toss happened, but before that, Indian cricket fans all over the world and especially CSK followers, got a glimpse of MS Dhoni walking out for light warmups and toss. This was the first time after 437 days that Dhoni walked out onto a cricket field for a proper match.

The last time he walked off a field was in Old Trafford, Manchester, when was run out in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand after scoring 50 runs and India were eliminated. Dhoni didn’t play for India again, announcing his international retirement on August 15.

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But CSK owner N Srinivasan confirmed that Dhoni will continue to play for the franchise for 2 more years and everyone was awaiting his return to the yellow army.

MS Dhoni was seen doing some light warmups, including wicketkeeping drills, and even bowled a few balls to get himself loose before the match and he looked super fit. He did look a bit bulky with nice shaped biceps.

The official Twitter account of IPL shared the video of a smiling MS Dhoni walking out on the Abu Dhabi cricket field with the caption reading “MS Dhoni is in the house”

Meanwhile, CSK won the toss and Dhoni chose to bowl first. CSK brought in Sam Curran for Dwayne Bravo, who is carrying a niggle. MI, on the other hand, chose to go with Saurabh Tiwary and James Pattinson in their lineup.

Twitter was filled with reactions from Thala fans as their revered MS Dhoni returned back to formal cricket after a gap of 437 days.

Here are some fan tweets on the return of MS Dhoni: