Shot of the Day: MS Dhoni sends ball into night sky with 101-metre six off Yash Thakur

Chennai Super Kings clashed with Lucknow Super Giants in Match 34 of IPL 2024 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. LSG bowlers were all over CSK batters as they plucked two wickets within the powerplay. They then halted the run rate as CSK could only score at six runs per over during 7-15 overs. The defending champions were in dire need of a resurgence, and MS Dhoni padded up to provide one.

Coming in to bat at number eight, he had only two overs to make some difference. The wicket-keeper batter scored a brisk 12 off just five deliveries. In the final over, he smashed Yash Thakur for a 101-meter maximum towards long on. Thakur bowled a slot ball and Dhoni swung his bat to send the ball out of the mark. Thanks to his exploits the final over saw 19 runs being scored and CSK posted a respectable 176 on board.

Here’s Dhoni’s 101-metre strike to Yash Thakur:

Mahi bhai had hinted about captaincy at some point of time: Gaikwad 

Ruturaj Gaikwad was passed on the captaincy baton by Dhoni ahead of Indian Premier League 2024. Fans went into a frenzy when he posted a cryptic post of change in his new role. However, Gaikwad revealed that the shift was a long thought procedure carried out for years. He also revealed that he was informed in prior by the former CSK captain himself.

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"Last year itself, Mahi bhai had hinted about captaincy at some point of time. He just hinted that, 'be ready, it shouldn't be a surprise to you'. When we came into the camp, he involved me in some of the match simulation,” said Gaikwad in a video uploaded by IPL.

"I remember him posting about a new role on social media and everybody was pointing towards me and asking me, 'are you the next captain?'. I was like, 'maybe it meant something else for social media'. But back of the mind, it was there. He came and said, 'I've decided this and this', but definitely now that I'm here, I'm looking forward to this," the Maharashtra-born added.