WATCH: MS Dhoni greets fans during IND vs NZ 1st T20I in his hometown Ranchi, crowd reaction goes viral

Even after his retirement, MS Dhoni drew the biggest cheer from the crowd during the first T20I between India and New Zealand at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Friday, January 27.

The former India captain greeted the crowd as the big screen zoomed in on him. Unsurprisingly, the crowd erupted in joy at seeing the legendary wicketkeeper-batter in the stadium.

Dhoni accompanied his wife Sakshi to watch Men in Blue in action in his hometown.

Watch the video below:

Dhoni earlier paid a visit to the Indian dressing room on Thursday. He interacted with the players after Team India’s training session while enjoying coconut water.

After a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series against New Zealand, Hardik Pandya and Co. will look to win the T20I series against the Blackcaps. So far, Pandya has guided the Men in Blue to 2-1 and 1-0 series wins in T20Is against Sri Lanka and the Kiwis, respectively, after the T20 World Cup 2022.

As far as the ongoing match is concerned, New Zealand scored 176 in the first innings after Team India won the toss and elected to bowl first.

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MS Dhoni to lead CSK in IPL 2023

MS Dhoni will once again lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2023. He was re-appointed as skipper after Ravindra Jadeja relinquished his captaincy last season. The franchise will be looking to win their fifth IPL trophy and give a fitting tribute to Dhoni in what is rumored to be his last IPL season.

In November 2021, Dhoni confirmed that he wants to play his last T20 in Chennai. He said:

"I have always planned my cricket. My last home game, the ODI version, was in Ranchi. Hopefully, my last T20 will be in Chennai.”

CSK squad for IPL 2023: MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Verma.