Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni has defied odds to rewind the clock at the age of 41, as he has shown many glimpses of the effortless six-hitter that he was during his prime years, in the ongoing IPL 2023 season.
Dhoni has mainly batted at number 8, but he has scored impactful cameos to provide the perfect finish to CSK as well as a lot of joy to his fans who have been filling stands not just in Chennai but all over the country, perhaps anticipating this to be his last IPL season, though he has not confirmed it.
He has so far faced just 47 balls in 12 matches, but has hammered 96 runs with 10 sixes, at a strike-rate of 204. What makes this even more special is that he is carrying a painful knee injury, which he is managing carefully to ensure he gets through the season.
There have been some doubts over his availability in couple of times, but so far he hasn't missed any matches even though his pain is quite visible, especially while running between the wickets.
Once known for his lightning fast running between the wickets, Dhoni now seems a shadow of that but its understandable as match fitness at his age isn't the easiest to maintain since he hasn't played any competitive cricket outside of IPL since 2019. He still looks in top shape physically but the injured knee has hindered his speed in the middle.
This was evident when Dhoni batted during his 9-ball 20 against Delhi Capitals on May 10, even as he struck couple of massive sixes off Khaleel Ahmed. Batting with Jadeja, the CSK captain tried his best to match up to his speed but his limp and discomfort was visible to everyone.
His former teammate and now commentator, Irfan Pathan, took to Twitter to express his pain at watching Dhoni limping in the middle after seeing him run like a 'Cheetah' during his pomp.
CSK have 15 points from 12 matches, and sit at the second spot on the points table. One more win will assure them of a playoffs spot and possibly even the top two finish that they are after.
