It will be a do-or-die contest between two heavyweights, who will be seeking a berth in the IPL 2024 playoffs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be relying on Virat Kohli to once again guide them to glory. Despite not being the official captain, the RCB star has been his side’s vocal leader. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings find themselves in this situation after failing to build on their strong start to the ongoing season.
Unlike RCB’s dependence on Kohli, reflected in his pole position in the Orange Cap race, Chennai Super Kings haven’t had a solitary figure to rely on. They have had Shivam Dube lead them to wins with his power-hitting abilities, meanwhile Ruturaj Gaikwad has also contributed with crucial knocks after being appointed as captain.
Even MS Dhoni has contributed to his side, batting lower down the order. His short cameos in the death overs has been crucial and his leadership qualities has been well-represented by him placing fielders rather than Gaikwad. Prior to the season opener, CSK replaced Dhoni with Gaikwad as skipper. But in reality, it has been the India legend leading his side unofficially.
Speaking to Star Sports, former India pacer Varun Aaron felt that the defending champions could rely on Dhoni, especially due to his ability to perform at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be the MS show this game, because it’s all building up to this. I just feel it’s going to be that way because he loves the Chinnaswamy stadium. He’s played some epic innings there. I remember him pull up some crazy even once they fell short by by one run that last over against Umesh Yadav, which is actually etched in my memory. I never forget that he scored 20-21 runs single-handedly of the last over, so MS Dhoni at Chinnaswamy stadium is really, really dangerous,” he said.
Aaron also revealed that Dhoni has ‘a really high pain threshold’. “Also. He’s one of those guys who has a really high pain threshold and bites the bullet to make sure he forgets about his injury,” he added.
At this venue against RCB, Dhoni has played nine matches and has registered 376 runs at an average of 125.33 and 184.31 strike rate. Meanwhile, he also has smacked four half-centuries.
In this season, Dhoni has slammed 161 runs in 10 innings. His strike rate of 226.66 proves the importance of his short cameos this season. This could also be the 42-year-old’s final IPL season and will be hoping to lead CSK to a record-breaking sixth title.