MS Dhoni has received its fair share of criticism for his tackles against the Rajasthan Royals in the Chennai Super Kings’ second game of the 2020 Indian Premier League. While chasing a mammoth 217-run goal, Dhoni came out to bat at No. 7 and looked rusty in its entrances at first. At the end of the 19th time, Dhoni had scored just 9 12-ball runs and CSK needed 38 on the last lap.
But in the last finale, Dhoni reminded everyone why he is one of the deadliest ball forwards in world cricket. He threw three straight sixes to Tom Curran and showed his ability with the bat. Such was the ferocity that it struck that one of the six landed outside the Sharjah stadium and onto the main Sharjah road.
READ | ‘Not believing that nonsense’, Kevin Pietersen disagrees with Dhoni’s justification behind hitting at No. 7
Curran threw a slower pitch and Dhoni crashed it through the wicket for a massive six. A Sharjah resident collected the ball from the streets and took it home as a souvenir.
“He is a lucky man. Look who has the ball that was hit by MS Dhoni ”, captioned the official IPL Twitter account along with the video of the resident taking the ball.
Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir was surprised to see Dhoni hit so low in the order, despite the Chennai Super Kings chasing a whopping 217 run goal to win. The likes of Sam Curran, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kedar Jadhav batted at No. 4, 5 and 6 respectively, while Dhoni was reserved for No. 7. Gambhir, the former captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, who led the franchise to two IPL titles, he felt Dhoni should have hit higher and led from the front.
“To be honest, I was a bit surprised,” Gambhir said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out. “MS Dhoni hitting No. 7? And sending [Ruturaj] Gaikwad before him, Sam Curran before him. It doesn’t make any sense to me. In fact, he should lead from the front. And this is not what you call leading from the front. Hitting No. 7 when you’re chasing what … 213 [217]? Game over. Faf was probably the only warrior. “
.
