IPL 2023 Countdown: The Dhoni magic in Dharamshala March 31 with Chennai Super Kings locking horns with Gujarat Titans

IPL 2023 Countdown: The Dhoni magic in Dharamshala on March 31 with Chennai Super Kings lock horns with Gujarat Titans 

Image of ms dhoni | Image credit : IPL

The 2023 IPL is on the horizon. The tournament will shift back to the home-and-away format this year, and the 16th edition of the T20 extravaganza will kick off on March 31, with Chennai Super Kings locking horns with Gujarat Titans in the opening clash. 

With just a few days to go for the IPL season, let us take a look at some of the classic performances by our Super Kings in the tournament.

18th April 2010! A date that no Chennai Super Kings fan will forget. MS Dhoni played an innings that will go down as one of the greatest knocks in IPL history. 

Chennai entered this contest in a must-win situation. Put into bat, Kings XI Punjab posted a mammoth total of 192/3, with Shaun Marsh plundering a 57-ball 88*.

In reply, Chennai were reduced to 27/2. But then, Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath indulged in the rebuilding act and put on a partnership of 62 runs for the third wicket. When Raina departed, Dhoni entered with the ‘Men in Yellow’ still needing 104 runs off 10.2 overs.

Dhoni scored a boundary off the first ball he faced and signalled his intentions to the opposition. Badrinath at the other end was playing some gorgeous shots, and the Dhoni-Badrinath duo was making things tough for the Punjab Kings. When Badrinath walked back to the pavilion, the Super Kings still needed 45 runs off 20 deliveries.

The equation came down to 29 runs needed off the final two overs and eventually 16 off the last over.

Then came the over that is now a part of IPL folklore. The first ball of the over, bowled by Irfan Pathan, was driven majestically by Dhoni past cover for a boundary. Dhoni collected 2 runs off the next ball, as the equation now read 10 runs from 4 balls.

Irfan Pathan then bowled a length delivery and Dhoni launched the ball into the roof of the stadium. Now, 4 runs off 3 balls. Repeat sixer. The emotion of joy was seen all over the stadium, the fans across and from our Thala! 

The Chennai players rushed out in joy, Dhoni was pumped up and even punched his helmet after taking the team to the knockouts. He had scored a 29-ball 54* to seal the deal.