In match number 33 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on the struggling Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday (April 21) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Jadeja-led side won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Mukesh Choudhary produced a spectacular 3-over spell that saw the young pacer take three big wickets while giving away just 19 runs. This bowling effort was instrumental in limiting the 5-time champions to a score of 155/7 in their 20 overs. The chasing team though kept losing wickets but decent batting performances by Robin Uthappa (30 off 25 balls), Ambati Rayadu (40 off 35 balls), and Dwaine Pretorious (22 off 14 balls) took the match till the last over.
The Super Kings needed 17 runs off the last 6 balls with the veteran batter MS Dhoni on strike. Jayadev Unadkat was entrusted to bowl the last over. MS Dhoni once again did what he has done countless times for his team, he took them over the finishing line. Dhoni's stunning 13-ball 28* drew acclaim from former cricketers and fans, with many drawing comparisons to Dinesh Karthik, who has been in the form of his life this season.
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After the match, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja spoke on Cricbuzz on how the CSK great turned the clock back to remind fans of his finishing brilliance.
"The way the match was poised with four overs remaining, only MS Dhoni could have won this for them. MI were in the game, they had in their hands but they were beaten by a bigger player. Not for the first time, Dhoni once again showed his prowess, maybe some people forgot about it. People were tagging 'DK, DK' the best finisher, now think about MS Dhoni as well," Jadeja said.
"The special thing about him is that the moment he comes to the crease, the bowler begins to think and worry about what he is going to do. He has learned this with experience, it is not necessary that he has to take the charge every time. The pressure is more on the bowler, and today we got to see that. The fear that he puts in a bowler's head is something special, that is because he has scored so much," he added further.
The newly-appointed skipper of the 4-time champion side, Ravindra Jadeja in the post-match presentation, heaped praises on the wicketkeeper batter calling him the “world’s greatest finisher”
"Look we were in pressure and the way the match was going, I believe there was pressure in both the dugouts... As the world's best finisher (Dhoni) was out in the middle," said Jadeja.
"Somewhere we knew that if he (Dhoni) stays till the last ball, then definitely he would win the game for us. We had the belief that he wouldn't miss the final two-three balls and luckily that"
(HT INPUTS)
