A fraudster impersonating former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni tried to trick his supporters out of money with the help of a text message, causing ripples on the internet.

“Hi, I am MS Dhoni, I am messaging you from my private account. I am in Ranchi outskirts and I have forgotten my wallet. Can you PhonePe me ₹600 so I can return home by bus, will send back once I get home,” the message sent by the scammer read.

To prove that he was making a legitimate claim, the scammer, who was impersonating the 2011 World Cup-winning captain, even posted a picture of MS Dhoni before telling fans that it was his “selfie” before adding the iconic slogan of the Chennai Super Kings, “Whistle Podu,” to convince people to fall for his trick.

A screenshot of the scammer's conversation with MS Dhoni's fans on Instagram soon went viral on X, with several netizens commenting on the incident.

 

Speaking about MS Dhoni's recent cricketing performances, the legendary cricketer became the first player to complete 5000 runs as a wicketkeeper-batter in the IPL. The 42-year-old's monumental feat came against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium last Friday.

MS Dhoni has looked at his explosive best in the IPL this season and the match against LSG was no different as he lifted the spirits in the CSK camp following his blistering unbeaten knock of 28 off 9 balls, which featured two monumental sixes and three boundaries.

The former India skipper arrived at the crease after the fall of Moeen Ali's wicket in the 18th over and immediately went after the LSG bowlers, smashing them along the ground as well as over their heads with his immaculate placement and brute power doing the rest.

Though MS Dhoni's late burst took CSK to 176/6 in their allocated 20 overs, his entertaining knock went in vain as the visitors lost the contest by 8 wickets as LSG skipper KL Rahul took his team to a comfortable victory with an unbeaten 82 off 53 deliveries.

Nonetheless, this wasn't the first time MS Dhoni lit up the IPL in 2024.

In the previous clash against the Mumbai Indians, he struck all-rounder Hardik Pandya for three consecutive sixes, finishing his innings on an unbeaten 20 off 4 balls.

MS Dhoni added another four runs in the 20th over in CSK's latest outing against LSG at the Chepauk earlier this week.

Interestingly, with his heroics against LSG in Tamil Nadu, MS Dhoni's tally of runs in 20th overs in the IPL surged to 776. Remarkably, his runs in the final over of the innings in the cash-rich league have come at a stunning strike-rate of over 246.

In IPL 2024, MS Dhoni has scored 61 runs in the last over of CSK's essay so far. But it is worth noticing that he made these runs in only 17 balls with the help of five boundaries and six maximums.

MS Dhoni's scintillating batting in the IPL earned him immense praise from former India captain Sourav Ganguly, ex-opener Wasim Jaffer, and retired Australian cricketer Tom Moody.

“There's nothing about young and old, It's about how good you are and that is important for me. How is Jimmy Anderson playing Test cricket as a fast bowler at 41 and bowling 30 overs in an innings in a Test match? So there is no hard and fast rule for anything. The only hard and fast rule is talent, ability and performance. Look at MS Dhoni. He bats for 2 overs and hits 4 sixes. I would actually want him to bat more, but just see how good he is,” Sourav Ganguly said.

“It's incredible. Hitting in the death (overs) is the most difficult things, to the bowlers who are in the top of their game and playing international cricket. He does that so easily. It's incredible to watch him do that without any match practice, without playing any cricket between IPL,” Wasim Jaffer highlighted.

“42 years old, still very fit, still very focussed, still very hungry, but the puzzle is, he does not play any cricket coming in and playing in the IPL. It is hard to come out of the cold and suddenly have that expectation to be able to perform at an elite level is near impossible,” Tom Moody told ESPNcricinfo.

At the start of the 17th edition of the IPL, MS Dhoni relinquished his captaincy duties, handing over CSK's baton to Ruturaj Gaikwaid, after having associated with the franchise since its inception in 2008.

During his long 14-year stint as captain of the Chennai-based side, MS Dhoni guided them to five IPL titles, including last year when CSK joined Mumbai Indians atop the list of the most successful teams in the elite T20 competition.