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IPL: Thala-smanic MS Dhoni rules fans’ hearts in Lucknow
During the match in Lucknow on Friday, the entire Ekana Stadium stood up as Dhoni walked out to bat at the fall of the sixth CSK wicket (Moeen Ali).
It was a fantastic sight as almost all 50,000-odd spectators wore MS Dhoni’s yellow No.7 Chennai Super Kings jersey at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Friday, expressing unstinted adulation for the 42-year-old cricket legend who has retired from all forms of the international game but is still the biggest draw in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and a talismanic performer for his team.
Even as many kept wondering whether the current IPL season would be his swansong, a loud cheer went up for Dhoni, known as CSK’s ‘Thala’ (leader), at the stadium when he turned up for the routine practice session ahead of the match against the home team, Lucknow Super Giants.
Famous for his unparallelled cricket sense, signature stroke-play, wicket-keeping skills and disarming charm as Captain Cool in his heyday (though he has now handed over CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad), Dhoni, who led India to three ICC titles, remains an all-time favourite among cricket lovers and his popularity remained at its peak in Lucknow on the day.
During the match, the entire Ekana stood up as Dhoni walked out to bat at the fall of the sixth CSK wicket (Moeen Ali). Once again, he was the man of the moment, striking an unbeaten 28 off nine balls with three fours and two sixes with a strike rate of 311.
Still, it was a perfect day for the fans as LSG won by eight wickets and cricket lovers got to see Dhoni in action.
Though there were few fans in the home team’s jersey at the stadium, most of them, however, did fly the LSG flags which the hosts had put on almost all the seats much before the start of the match no. 34 of IPL 2024.
Earlier in the day, Dhoni’s die-hard fans were stationed even at the team’s hotel in Gomti Nagar even before the team bus could move towards the stadium. They waved placards, carrying slogans like “Abhi Na Jayo Chor Ke Yeh Dil Abhi Bhara Nahi”.
“This may be Dhoni’s last match in the IPL (in Lucknow), so I am just making a request to him, not to leave the game soon,” said Rudra Pratap Mishra of Indira Nagar.
Runjhun Agarwal, a law student from IP University in Delhi, said she came all the way from the national capital just to see MSD live in action.
“Despite having many opportunities in the past, I could never get to see MSD playing, but this time I chose to come down to Lucknow to my uncle’s place so I could see my dream cricketer in action,” she said.
Knockoffs of Dhoni’s No. 7 jersey sold like hotcakes on the roadside leading to the stadium.
Asked the price, Kolkata resident Hemant Ray, who was selling the jerseys, said: “It is for ₹250, but will give it to you for ₹200. There are few left, take them quickly otherwise they will be sold. There is tremendous demand.”
Inside the stadium, love for Dhoni resonated with the fans all the way as Thala (leader) ruled the city of nawabs, notwithstanding the match result for his team.
