MS Dhoni was an emotional man as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clinched a record 5th IPL title on Monday by beating defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In the rain-curtailed game, CSK secured a 5-wicket win (DLS method) in a thrilling fashion to equal the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) record of 5 IPL titles.
On the reserve day of the final, after the game was washed out on Sunday, GT batted first and smashed 214/4 — the highest total in all IPL finals — with Sai Sudharshan making 96 off 47 balls.
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In reply, CSK’s innings was interrupted by rain just three balls into the chase. The match resumed at 12.10 AM (30 May, Tuesday) with the target reduced to 171 in 15 overs.
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Devon Conway with 47 off 25 was CSK’s best batter and he was well supported by Shivam Dube who smashed 32 not out off 21.
In the end, the equation came down to 13 required from the last over with Dube and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle.
Mohit Sharma started with a dot ball and three singles. 10 was needed from the last two balls when Jadeja went all guns blazing.
He smashed Mohit for a six over the long-on on the penultimate ball before finding a boundary on the last ball with a flick to fine leg.
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As CSK won the IPL 2023 title, the players in the yellow jerseys ran onto the pitch to celebrate their victory with Jadeja. Among them was Dhoni, who rarely shows such emotions on the ground.
Exhilarated with what had unfolded in front of him, Dhoni lifted Jadeja to celebrate the title win and put to bed the rumours of a tussle between the two players. The former India captain looked extremely emotional as he lifted and hugged Jadeja.
Later on, he also took a celebratory lap around the stadium to thank the fans.
Retirement?
Apart from the title win, Dhoni had another gift for the CSK fans and the whole cricketing as the veteran announced that he could return for “at least one more season”.
“Circumstantially if you see, this is the best time for me to announce the retirement. But the amount of love and affection that I have been shown wherever I have been this year, the easy thing for me to say would be like ‘thank you very much’. But the tough thing for me is to work hard for another nine months and come back and play at least one more season of IPL,” Dhoni said after the match.
“But, a lot depends on the body. I have six-seven months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side. It’s not easy for me, but the way they have shown their love and affection, I feel that’s something I need to do for them.”
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