Spectators at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium in Lucknow were dazzled as Mahendra Singh Dhoni delighted them with an entertaining cameo during Chennai Super Kings' IPL 2024 match against the Lucknow Super Giants.
It looked as if CSK was playing at home as the entire stadium got up to cheer Dhoni when he made his way to the middle in the 18th over.
And Dhoni, who only plays in the IPL, didn't certainly disappoint. Freed from the burden of CSK's captaincy, he certainly seems to be enjoying his batting and has already played some impactful knocks this season.
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He got the off the mark with a single before hitting left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan for a four and a six off successive deliveries in the penultimate over.
In the final over, he subjected young Yash Thakur to some harsh punishment. The pacer made the mistake of pitching it up to Dhoni, who swung it cleanly over midwicket for a six before he edged the next which flew past the wicket-keeper for a four.
The last ball was a wide yorker but Dhoni still managed to steer it past point for a four.
The home crowd was not complaining even if their bowlers were getting hammered as Dhoni smashed his way to a superb 28 from nine balls, helping CSK to 176/6 with 63 runs coming from the last four overs.
Dhoni has been in superb hitting form in IPL 2024, hitting 87 runs at a strike rate of 255. In the previous match against the Mumbai Indians, he smashed three sixes off Hardik Pandya in the final over.
He also went on the rampage against the Delhi Capitals, slamming 37 from 16 balls with three sixes and four fours.
