Watch- MS Dhoni's direct hit run out draws special praise from Suresh Raina

MS Dhoni had all eyes on him throughout the CSK vs RCB contest despite him relinquishing captaincy. The former Chennai Super Kings captain seemed to control the match from behind the stumps and gave directions to the newly appointed skipper Rururaj Gaikwad.

He was always in Gaikwad’s earns ringing in the bowling and fielding changes throughout the game. He made brilliant stops down the leg sides a few times and had his moment finally in the last ball of the RCB batting innings.

Tushar Deshpande bowled the final over and in the final ball. Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik tried to steal a quick run. Knowing the possibility, MS Dhoni was a few steps up to the stumps and hit the wickets. Even at the age of 42, he had the agility and the reflexes to hit the stumps on the full and effect a runout. He also saved a crucial run for his team in the process.

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Just The Calmness Of The Mind: Sanjay Manjrekar On MS Dhoni

Sanjay Manjrekar who was commentating at that point for Star Sports was impressed with MS Dhoni’s consistency with hitting the stumps and effecting run outs. He said that the former CSK skipper would have hardly practiced that in the last year since the last IPL. He said that it is something that naturally comes to Dhoni.

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“I don’t think he would’ve practiced this type of underarm throwing for over a year. It is so deep-rooted in his blood that he would rarely get it wrong. It’s the calmness of the mind that makes him focus on the stumps,” Manjrekar said.

MS Dhoni’s former CSK teammate Suresh Raina who was commentating for Jio Cinema also spoke about the runout and spoke about how Dhoni played a big part behind Ruturaj Gaikwad’s appointment as captain.

“He has never missed it for many years. When he defends the total, he loses his gloves and throws overarm. The way he mentored Ruturaj, is worth recognition,” said Raina.

CSK and RCB thus started their respective IPL 2024 campaign on opposite notes. This was CSK’s 21st win over RCB in the IPL. This was also Bangalore’s eighth consecutive defeat at the Chepauk since winning one back in 2008. RCN does not have a good record in season openers as well. The loss against CSK was their fourth in five games. Their only win was against Mumbai Indians in the 2021 season opener.

CSK were on the money with their performances against RCB. The score was restricted by Mustafizur Rahman’s four-wicket spell. The chase was finished off by a 66-run unbeaten stand between Shivam Dube (34) and Ravindra Jadeja (25*) after the top-order batters played their part. Rachin Ravindra on his debut for CSK top-scored with 37 off 15 balls as the Super Kings won by six wickets in the end.

“Maybe we were about 15-20 runs short, the pitch wasn’t as bad as we played in the first 10 overs. They were always ahead in the chase, we tried to squeeze and get a couple of wickets, but in the end, we didn’t have enough runs. On this pitch, it is always better to bat first. Last year, the record was very skewed towards teams that batted first” said RCB skipper Faf du Plessis after enduring yet another defeat against CSK.

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