Former India captain MS Dhoni has achieved another milestone as the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as he is leading the Chennai-based team for the 200th time in their match against Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai on Monday, April 19. Notably, he has now become the first player to lead a franchise 200 times in T20 cricket as well.
MS Dhoni, who is playing his 207th match in the IPL, holds the record for most matches as captain in T20 cricket too — 286 matches for CSK, Rising Pune Supergiant, and India as well. West Indies captain Darren Sammy placed second on the list who has captained 208 times in T20 cricket.
However, last week, MS Dhoni wore the yellow jersey for the 200th time when he entered the field against Punjab Kings at the same venue, in the 8th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League. The wicket-keeper batsman has captained the franchise in all games apart from one (2012 Champions League T20) when he was featured in the playing XI.
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Meanwhile, CSK had won the game convincingly and they celebrated MS Dhoni’s 200th match for CSK with a cake-cutting ceremony too. MS Dhoni has played 177 games for the CSK besides having 24 outings for the team in the Champions League T20 (CLT20) tournament too. He also represented Rising Pune Supergiant in 30 IPL games in the 2016-17 seasons as well.
M12: CSK vs RR – Toss https://t.co/kAbr3eyNFC
— Cricket Videos (@CricketVideos15) April 19, 2021
Dhoni is currently placed at eighth on the all-time IPL batting charts with 4,632 runs (4,058 for CSK) which came at an average of 40.63 and a strike rate of 136.67. In his 24 CLT20 matches, Dhoni has scored 449 runs with one fifty while captaining CSK to two titles, in 2010 and 2014 as well.
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After the win against Punjab, MS Dhoni said: “I think 2011 was the last time we were happy with the Chennai wicket. After that however hard the groundsmen tried we were not happy with the wicket. Especially after relaying the ball doesn’t come on to the bat nicely. Difficult to play big shots. Here we have a very good pitch. Movement off the seam, bounce and runs. Not swinging a lot, may be something to do with the ball. So when there’s no dew it seams for an extended period. Chahar is somebody who has developed as a death overs bowler too. If I’m looking to attack and there is movement I try to bowl him out because he gets more out of the pitch. As a bowling unit we have more resources.”
A match made in heaven 😍
MS Dhoni is all set to Captain @ChennaiIPL for the 200th time.#VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/1dS3bEzZDR
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2021
MS Dhoni will be captaining CSK for the 200th time tonight. He'll become the first player to captain a franchise for 200 matches in T20s.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/imviveksingh09/status/1384180544242524166?s=20
