Netizens got nostalgic after MS Dhoni rolled back the years to smoke a 101-meter six in the Indian Premier League (IPL) game between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during the weekend.

MS Dhoni, who has been at his explosive best in the IPL this season, took the LSG bowlers to the cleaners in their IPL contest in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

 

The veteran CSK batter 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.

 

Among the sixes was a monstrous 101-meter hit off the bowling of LSG pacer Yash Thakur in the final over of CSK's innings.

 

After Yash Thakur pitched the ball up, MS Dhoni struck it with force over the Mid-On boundary before it landed way back in the stands. 

 

Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri was on air when MS Dhoni smashed Yash Thakur for a six. He described it as “he's picked the bones out of it. It's a massive six.”

 

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.

 

Enroute his quickfire innings, the legendary cricketer became the first player to complete 5000 runs as a wicketkeeper-batter in the IPL.

 

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, he's 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 cricketers Aaron Finch, Tom Moody, and Wasim Jaffer.

“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.

 

“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 said in a conversation with ESPNcricinfo.

 

“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. 

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, 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 concluded.