With a unique knock that rolled back the years, MS Dhoni captivated the crowd late on Sunday night. In his first batting appearance since winning the IPL trophy as captain last season, Dhoni’s unbeaten 37 from 16 took the cricket world by storm. However, Chennai Super Kings were well out of the chase after Delhi Capitals’ outstanding bowling display in the middle overs. On social media, though, the old-fashioned jab ignited a fierce fan debate, with many asserting that Dhoni has now “surpassed Sachin Tendulkar in terms of craze and fanbase.”
Delhi managed to rally after Ajinkya Rahane threatened to end the match with his 45-run knock in the 192-run chase. Players like Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, and Mukesh Kumar tormented CSK with cutters and wide yorkers, while Axar Patel put on an economical three-over spell.
But Dhoni came up big in his opening IPL 2024 innings, hitting two boundaries in the first three balls he faced off against Mukesh and then hitting a six over extra cover off Khaleel in the following over. However, he saved the best for last, hitting Nortje for 20 runs in the final over, including two sixes and just as many boundaries, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
This season, the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam was supposed to be home to the Delhi Capitals. However, during that special knock on Sunday evening, a sea of yellow, wearing the iconic No. 7 jersey, invaded the venue and chanted “Dhoni-Dhoni.” On social media, fans engaged in an intense debate over whether Dhoni’s following is greater than that of former India captain Sachin Tendulkar. These are a few of the responses.
Even after all the criticism, Dhoni still regards Sachin as his hero. “When I was your age, I used to watch him play and always thought I wanted to play like him but couldn’t,” Dhoni acknowledged, speaking at a CSK event last year. I always secretly wished I could play cricket like him because as a child, he was my hero.”
Before the IPL 2024 season got underway at Chepauk, Sachin talked about the occasion when he suggested Dhoni for India captain after the BCCI had given him the position in 2007. This was during a Jio Cinema conversation. “My body was in terrible shape, but the BCCI offered me captaincy in 2007,” he stated. I had excellent observations of MS Dhoni. He has an extremely steady head, is composed, intuitive, and makes wise choices. I suggested he be appointed captain. The remainder is still history. Before leading the team to victories in the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, Dhoni guided India to the first-ever T20 World Cup victory in that same year.
