On Monday, MS Dhoni became the first player to captain a franchise 200 times in T20 cricket.
The former India captain walked out for the toss as Chennai Super Kings skipper and achieved the splendid milestone which is a testament not only to the success he has had but the part he has played in building up CSK’s legacy.
Just a few days back, on Friday, Dhoni had completed 200 T20 matches for the 3-time Indian Premier League champions.
Dhoni has played 201 matches for CSK but he played under Suresh Raina in one game during the Champions League T20 in 2012.
RCB’s Virat Kohli, notably, had become the first play to represent a franchise 200 times.
And for his 200th game in charge, Dhoni was in fine form. Not so much with the bat but his captaincy was spot on.
“Dhoni deserved to win,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports in the post-game chat. “In his 200th match as captain of CSK, he was spot on with almost everything. The bowling changes, the field placements. Look at the way he placed Jadeja, he took 4 catches and apart from them, he saved so many boundaries. That’s important, you have to have the right fielder at the right position.
Gavaskar added: “The moment the ball was changed after Buttler hit that six and the dry ball came in, he said immediately to Jadeja in Hindi that this ball will turn. It turned and he got Buttler out. And then he gave the ball to Moeen Ali. The ball turned and he got those wickets. Brilliant, brilliant captaincy from MS Dhoni.”
Most IPL matches as captain for a single team
MS Dhoni - 200 for CSK
Virat Kohli - 128 for RCB
Rohit Sharma - 124 for MI
Gautam Gambhir - 124 for KKR
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