[Watch] Suresh Raina helps hobbled MS Dhoni on his way to the team bus after MI-CSK IPL 2024 clash

In a heartwarming moment, former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Suresh Raina helped MS Dhoni climb down the stairs on the way to the team bus after the clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on April 14.

Dhoni has been struggling with a knee injury, with a heavy strapping seen on his left leg for most of the tournament. The 24-year-old underwent knee surgery during the off-season after dealing with a similar issue in IPL 2023.

Nevertheless, it did not stop Dhoni from leading CSK to their fifth IPL title last year, following which he relinquished captaincy a day before the start of this season to Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Meanwhile, Raina was at the Wankhede Stadium as part of the broadcasting team and walked with Dhoni and the other CSK players to the team bus.

Here is the touching video of Raina helping a limping MS Dhoni:

Coming to the game, Dhoni thrilled the Mumbai crowd with one of his vintage finishes, smashing 20 off 4 deliveries. The champion cricketer tore apart his good friend and MI skipper Hardik Pandya for a hattrick of sixes in the final over to help CSK finish on a formidable 206/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, MI finished 20 runs short despite an incredible 63-ball 105* by former captain Rohit Sharma.

"I don't even think we know to what extent he may or may not be in pain" - Eric Simmons

CSK bowling consultant Eric Simmons admitted to MS Dhoni carrying some sort of a niggle but praised his ability to ignore the pain and deliver the goods.

Despite being hobbled, Dhoni has played in all six of CSK's games and has scored 59 runs at an exceptional strike rate of 236.

In the press conference after the MI clash, Simmons opened up on Dhoni's injury and said:

"Everyone else is more interested in his injuries than he is. He's one of the hardest men I've ever come across. I don't even think we know to what extent he may or may not be in pain. He just carries on and does his thing. I'm sure there's some niggles. He just has that ability to ignore what it is and do what needs to be done. We're more concerned about his injuries. When I say we, I mean the public (which) is more concerned about his injuries than he is."

Dhoni is playing his 17th IPL season and remains the league's winningest captain with 133 wins in 226 games.

Yet, CSK continues to dominate under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, winning four of their six games to be well-placed at third on the points table.