The Last Time MS Dhoni Captained CSK At Chepauk: Massive news came out of the Chennai Super Kings dressing room last evening: Team captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL 2025 season due to an elbow fracture. In his absence, former captain and veteran wicketkeeper/batter MS Dhoni will lead the side for the remainder of the season.
Dhoni captained CSK from Day 1, the very first season of the Indian Premier League in 2008. He led the team for their entire existence till the 2023 season (barring half the 2020 season when Ravindra Jadeja led the team).
In that time, Dhoni and the Super Kings won five titles together, making the 43-year-old the joint-most successful captain in IPL history. He also took the team to a further five finals and 12 playoff appearances on the whole in the 14 seasons he led the franchise.
The Last Time MS Dhoni Captained CSK At Chepauk
But what happened the last time Dhoni captained the Chennai Super Kings at their home ground of the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, also called the Chepauk? For that, we have to travel back to IPL 2023 and the Qualifier 1 match between CSK and the defending champions, the Gujarat Titans, on May 23, 2023.
GT was a new franchise to the IPL, introduced in 2022. In their inaugural season, they finished on top of the table and ended up winning the whole competition. In 2023, the story seemed to be repeating itself, as the Titans topped the table once again. However, unlike 2022, when CSK finished ninth on the table and missed out on the playoffs, this year, they finished second and would face Gujarat in Qualifier 1 at their home ground of Chapauk.
The game saw the visitors win the toss and decide to bowl first, and in walked Chennai’s in-form opening duo, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. In the days before 200 became the norm in the IPL in 2024, the two gave CSK what would be considered a great start, especially back then. In the powerplay, without losing any wickets, the opening pair scored 49 runs.
In fact, this partnership was worth 87 runs as the two batted together for over 10 overs before Gaikwad got out after scoring 60 off 44 in the 11th over. Shivam Dube then came and went an over later. Conway then scored some quick runs alongside Ajinkya Rahane, who was dismissed in the 15th, scoring 17 off 10. Then, Ambati Rayudu, playing his last season, scored 17 off 9.
24 runs were scored in the last two overs as Ravindra Jadeja scored 22 off 16 and Moeen Ali scored nine runs in four deliveries. Captain Dhoni got out after scoring just a run in two balls as CSK’s inning ended at 172/7.
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Mohammed Shami, who won the Purple Cap in IPL 2023, and Mohit Sharma, who revived his career at GT that season, both took two wickets each. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Darshan Nalkande took one wicket each.
With a big target of 173 runs ahead of them, the Gujarat Titans got off to a poor start when Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed in the third over for 12. Then, before the powerplay ended, GT captain Hardik Pandya lost his wicket for eight, with the score being 41/2 at the end of six overs.
Shubman Gill anchored the inning as wickets kept falling from the other end. First, Dasun Shanaka got out for a 16-ball 17, and then David Miller was dismissed for four. By the time Gill got out, the Titans’ score was 88/5 in the 14th over, with 85 runs required in 41 deliveries.
While Rashid Khan played a fine knock of 30 in 16 deliveries towards the end, GT fell way short of the target, getting dismissed for 157 and losing the game by 15 runs.
Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Ravindra Jadeja, and Matheesha Pathirana took two wickets each, while Tushar Deshpande took one. With a brilliant spell of 2/18 in four overs, Jadeja was the standout bowler for the Chennai Super Kings.
However, the Player of the Match was Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose 44-ball 60 laid the foundation of a big score for the CSK and their eventual win.
Later that week, CSK and GT faced off in the final once again, where Jadeja played the hero with the bat and scored 10 runs on the final two deliveries and won the fifth league title for the Super Kings.
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