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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) veteran MS Dhoni was left awed by Ruturaj Gaikwad's exceptional and imperious shot over the offside during the high-profile clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Gaikwad came out to bat at No.3 with Ajinkya Rahane sent out to open the innings with Rachin Ravindra. However, with the experiment backfiring, Gaikwad anyways had to come out to bat as early as the second over of the innings.
The right-handed batter looked in brilliant touch from the word go, overseeing the remainder of the powerplay with Rachin Ravindra at the other end. He ramped up his scoring rate with consecutive sixes of Akash Madhwal and Gerald Coetzee, that helped him get to his second successive fifty in IPL 2024.
He continued his assault on Madhwal, taking him on in the 15th over. Gaikwad scored a four and a six to end the over, with the former being a magnificent shot over point. Gaiwkad made room by moving towards the leg side, and then used the space to carve a full toss over off-side as Romario Shepherd remained a spectator on the boundary line.
The cameras panned to MS Dhoni in the dressing room, who responded with an expression of being thoroughly impressed with the shot, that arguably not many could have pulled off.
Have a look at Dhoni's reaction right here:
Ruturaj Gaikwad usually has an excellent record of converting his good scores, just as he was about to switch into the final gear, he was outdone by a cutter by Hardik Pandya in the 16th over.
Dhoni came out to bat in the final over of the innings
MS Dhoni set the Wankhede alight with his cameo to conclude the innings. The veteran launched an assault on Hardik Pandya, taking the all-rounder on for three consecutive sixes, helping CSK push their total to 206/4. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 20 runs off just four deliveries, ending with a strike rate of 500.
He had been padded up in the dressing room for quite a while, with the crowd going berserk at the mere sight of him on the big screen. His moment finally came when Daryl Mitchell was dismissed in the second delivery of the over.
Dhoni scored his first six over long-off, the second one to long on, while the third one was a flat hit over deep square leg. He could not make it four out of four as he edged the final delivery for a quick double.
