Chennai Super Kings (CSK) nearly pulled off a heroic victory against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Wednesday. It was the skipper MS Dhoni who remained unbeaten till the end, but needing 5 runs from the final ball to win the match, the ‘Thala’ couldn’t dispatch the ball to the boundary. The result was Rajasthan claiming a 3-run victory. However, after the match, CSK coach Stephen Fleming broke worrying news, suggesting Dhoni is nursing a knee injury.
Dhoni looked in sublime touch as he executed some of his trademark sixes, especially against spinners. Dhoni scored a whopping 32 off just 17 balls with the help of one boundary and three sixes, forming a valuable partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 25 off 15 balls.
In the final over against Sandeep Sharma, needing 21 runs off the last 6 balls, Dhoni was able to hit two sixes in the over but Sandeep bounced back to seal a 3-run win for his side.
Speaking about Dhoni, Fleming revealed that the franchise skipper is nursing a knee injury, but was still able to do some phenomenal things in the middle.
“He is nursing a knee injury, which you can see in some of his movements. It’s hindering him somewhat. His fitness has always been very professional. He comes a month before the tournament starts. He’s a great player. We have never doubts over him. He’s just amazing,” Fleming said in the press conference.
While it has been confirmed that Dhoni is carrying an injury, Fleming didn’t suggest that the knee issue could deter Dhoni from playing the upcoming games for CSK.
Speaking of the match, Dhoni himself admitted that there were plenty of dot balls in the middle overs which saw CSK lose momentum in the chase.
“I think in the middle overs we needed a bit more strike rotation, there wasn’t much for the spinners but they had experienced spinners and we could not rotate strike. It was not that difficult and the ownership (of the loss) should come from the batters. It was good that we could reach striking distance (of the target) as we were the last pair. It really affects NRR when you get to the last phase of the tournament,” he said.
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