Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni played a brilliant knock of unbeaten 32 runs off 17 balls, albeit in a losing cause, against Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday night. His innings included 3 huge sixes and 1 four which brought a loud roar from the fans at Chepauk. The home crowd felt that their ‘Thala’ would make another amazing finish and take CSK to victory from jaws of defeat. It was not to be as RR’s Sandeep Sharma executed the last three deliveries of the game perfectly to take his side home. But despite the loss, CSK fans were not deeply hurt. The sight of their hero fighting one more time was very satisfying for them. Even if Dhoni could not help Chennai complete the final lap, the fans were happy with the effort.

The fact that Dhoni played this IPL 2023 innings with an injured knee surprised the fans. During the innings, commentators pointed to Dhoni’s refusal to take quick singles and converting ones into twos which is quite contrary to nature of his game. Dhoni is a very busy player who never leaves a chance to score, a six or a quick single. But on Wednesday night, he was nor running to the best of his abilities.

CSK, a day later, posted video of Dhoni in which he could be seen limping as he walks back to the dressing room. They captioned it as: “A warrior. A veteran. A champion – The One and Only!”

Watch Dhoni struggling to walk properly:

A warrior. A veteran. A champion – The One and Only! _

Full post match _ https://t.co/LuLJ13LVt3#CSKvRR #WhistlePodu #Yellove _ @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/dgsuPgT92y

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 13, 2023

CSK head coach Stephen Fleming gave an update on Dhoni’s injury later. He said that Dhoni is battling a knee injury but he wants to be on ground as he is a dedicated cricketer “He is nursing a knee injury, which you can see in some of his movement, which is hindering him somewhat. But still what you saw today is a great player for us. His fitness has always been very professional.”

Fleming added that it is hard for cricketers like Dhoni to return to cricket field and be 100 percent fit in a highly-competitive tournament like IPL. Retired from international cricket in 2020, Dhoni only plays IPL. Fleming said that Dhoni has prepared nets in Ranchi where he bats every now and then but he begins prep forthe IPL season only a month in advance. In those 30 days, Dhoni attempts to regain match fitness and plays in nets for long hours.