Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clashed in the 50th match of the IPL 2021 in Dubai on October 4, 2021. This is a fight between the top two ranked teams in the ongoing IPL points table and a win here will ensure either of the team of a top-two spot finish.
This becomes mightily important as the top two placed teams get two chances in order to qualify for the finals of the IPL and whichever team won this match will get the same.
Today is also Rishabh Pant’s 24th birthday and when he arrived for the toss with MS Dhoni, the camaraderie between the mentor and protégé was visible. Pant won the toss and opted to bowl but when Ian Bishop asked him (Pant) how it feels to come up against your mentor, the DC captain came up with a witty response.
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“Always great learning from him (MS Dhoni), but right now he's a rival, so focus is on the game,” said Rishabh Pant at the time of toss.
“The wicket might do a bit early, so better bowling first. We just need to focus on the basics, continue doing what we have been doing, want to finish in the top two. Ripal Patel is making his debut, Smith goes out. He's a lower middle-order batsman who can bowl a few overs,” Pant added further.
As for MS Dhoni’s CSK, they made three changes bringing in Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar. Dhoni also revealed that Suresh Raina had a left knee issue.
He said: “We were looking to bat first, but we were not 100% sure, the wicket seems to be tacky. We have got a few changes - Sam is out, Bravo is back, Chahar replaces Asif and Robin Uthappa replaces Suresh Raina, who has a back issue. We are trying to rest players who have some niggles, top-two is important, if you have a bad day in the qualifiers, you have another chance to make a comeback.”
After the toss, the duo were seen having fun on the field that caught the eye of fans, who termed their camaraderie as "pure bliss."
