G Krishnan
Mumbai, April 14
Two iconic players who have led their respective teams to five IPL titles each will be up against each other one more time. Now relieved of the captaincy responsibilities, Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians and Mahendra Singh Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings have been among the long-serving players for their respective franchises and boosted the image of their teams the world over.
As senior most players of their teams, Sharma and Dhoni have also been playing the role of mentors for their team-mates and whom everyone looks up to. Despite achieving success, they still have the hunger to excel for their sides. Dhoni, at 42, still has it in him to excel behind the wickets, his agility and glove work something of a masterclass for budding stumpers.
And, as he showed in that match against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam two weeks ago, he still has the fire in his willow to strike big and at a rapid rate. He may not be the finisher that he used to be, but his fans across the country don’t mind his contribution even in a losing cause. They just want to see him stride out majestically with the bat to play in the death overs, even if it means only two or three deliveries. They aren’t sure if they will get to see Dhoni in another IPL.
With Dhoni, one can never be sure. So, while he is out in the yellow colours, after retiring his blue Team India colours in August 2020, the spectators want to have the most of him, 20 overs behind the wickets with the bigger gloves doing what he does, and the few deliveries late in the CSK innings, if it gets to that stage, to see him in action with the bat. The cheers that Dhoni gets when he walks out to the field, even for pre-match training routines, are deafening.
It is not going to be anything different on Sunday night when Dhoni and the team that is synonymous with him, CSK, take on Sharma and the side, MI, whose ardent supporters still believe that he should be captaining the side, at the Wankhede Stadium.
Any MI-CSK match is a big draw over the years. This is one of the rare fixtures whose demand for ticket sales are many times more than what the stadium can hold. It is for this particular clash that the entire city’s cricket supporters want to get their hands on the tickets and watch the action first-hand live and immerse themselves in the electrifying atmosphere.
Sharma, though, has not scored a fifty yet in this season, he has got the starts for MI and is striking the ball well. He is batting with no worries in his mind as to what the winning total should be when batting first or to plan the chase when batting second. That is left for Hardik Pandya, who took over the reins from Sharma, and which did not sit well with the MI fans. Until they started winning, that is.
MI have the edge over CSK in terms of head-to-clashes overall, 20 wins and 16 losses in 36 clashes in the last 16 editions as also at the Wankhede, winning 7 and losing 3 in 11. While MI are a rejuvenated side after two back-to-back wins following a dismal three-match losing start to the season, CSK have not travelled well so far this season. They have been kings in their home ground, MA Chidambaram in Chennai, winning all three home matches so far, but poor travellers, losing both their away matches. Pandya’s team, especially their strong batting department, will look to capitalise on this weak link in CSK.
Though, MI will have to contend with the swing of Mustafizur Rahman and the all-round abilities of Ravindra Jadeja. That CSK have Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur, all bred at the Wankhede and local lads who know the conditions well, could work against MI.
