Fans were in awe of former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni after the legendary cricketer became the first player to complete 5000 runs as a wicketkeeper-batter in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 42-year-old's monumental feat came against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium on 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. 

 

Interestingly, with his heroics against LSG in Uttar Pradesh, MS Dhoni's tally of runs in 20th overs in the IPL surged to 772. Remarkably, his runs in the final over of the innings in the cash-rich league have come at a stunning strike rate of 246.64.

 

In IPL 2024, MS Dhoni has scored 57 runs in the last over of CSK's essay so far. But it is worth noticing that he made these runs in only 16 balls with the help of four boundaries and six maximums. 

 

MS Dhoni's scintillating batting in the IPL earned him immense praise from former Australian skipper Aaron Finch.

“How many times have we seen that swing over the years around the wicket, straight into his arc, the form that he's in? He might be 42 but he's playing like he's 22. It's unbelievable striking,” Aaron Finch said on air. 

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. 

 

Following the development, former Team India coach Ravi Shastri decoded the reasons behind MS Dhoni's move.

“This is MS Dhoni's last season okay, very clear. You know depends how his body copes with everything, whether he plays the whole season or doesn't play the whole season, only time will tell,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.

 

“But what he has done is that he said, I don't want to give the job to Ruturaj halfway through the tournament. Be in the hot seat from the outside, I am watching from the back, if he needs some help I'm there to help him out but I think as compared to the year when Jadeja was captain, MS will take more and more of the backseat and probably contribute just in a little way between the drinks break or something like that,” he elaborated.