Watch: MS Dhoni runs out Anuj Rawat with stunning direct-hit to create history in IPL

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni produced an incredible direct hit to dismiss the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batsman Anuj Rawat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opening clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai on Friday, March 22.

A day before the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the legendary skipper Dhoni handed over the captaincy responsibility to star opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad as a part of the transition process in the CSK setup.

It was the second time that MS Dhoni handed over the leadership responsibility to a CSK player as he had tried doing the same in 2022. He passed on the baton to the star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the 2022 season, but the all-rounder failed miserably and Dhoni was forced to take over the captaincy again.

In the next season – IPL 2023 – MS Dhoni did an absolutely spectacular job and guided his team to the 5th Indian Premier League (IPL) title by defeating the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the summit clash.

Meanwhile, as Dhoni stepped onto the field in the IPL 2024 opener at the age of 42 years and 259 days, he became the third oldest player to feature in an IPL match behind Brad Hogg and Pravin Tambe.

Dhoni looked absolutely terrific behind the stumps and he was spot-on with his catching as well. He didn’t look in any sort of trouble while keeping the wickets which is a piece of great news for the franchise as he was struggling with his knee issues last year.

MS Dhoni plucked two catches behind the stumps to dismiss Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell and then he finished off the innings with a brilliant underarm throw to dismiss the star performer Anuj Rawat.

On the last ball of the first innings, Tushar Deshpande bowled a wide yorker to Dinesh Karthik and the batter failed to make any connection with the ball. He tried to be sneaky and went for a single. However, Dhoni showed sharpness and quickly produced an amazing underarm throw to catch Anuj Rawat short of the crease.

The wicketkeeper-batsman Anuj Rawat was back in the hut after scoring 48 runs off 25 balls. He stabilized the RCB innings with Dinesh Karthik after they were struggling at 78/5.

As MS Dhoni ran out Anuj Rawat, he created history in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni became the player to effect most run-outs in IPL as his tally reached 24.

Most run-outs effected by players in IPL history:

24 times – MS Dhoni*

23 times – Ravindra Jadeja

19 times – Virat Kohli

16 times – Suresh Raina

16 times – Manish Pandey

Watch: MS Dhoni runs out Anuj Rawat in IPL 2024 opener

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Earlier while speaking during the toss, the newly-appointed CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said that he is privileged to lead CSK in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but isn’t trying to fill Dhoni’s shoes.

Ruturaj Gaikwad also revealed that he came to know about his appointment as captain just last week, but Dhoni had also hinted about the same to him in the last season – IPL 2023. He elaborated:

“Feel privledged. But I want to try and be in my shoes, not fill anybody’s shoes. (On captaincy) I got to know last week, but Mahi bhai hinted at it last year.”

“Everyone is experienced here, sadly we are missing Conway and Pathirana. We’ve got Rachin and Mitchell coming in though this year so they should fit in well. Looks like a good pitch, a hard surface that should hold up well for the second innings. Four overseas – Mitchell, Rachin, Fizz and Theekshana. The domestic player Sameer Rizvi is making his debut as well,” the newly-appointed CSK captain further said at the toss.