Dhoni refused to run double, limped, battled immense pain; Fleming gives injury details of CSK captain
After CSK lost to RR by three runs in IPL 2023, head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed that the knee injury hampered MS Dhoni's movements in the last few overs.
MS Dhoni walked out to bat when Chennai Super Kings needed 73 runs off just 35 balls with only five wickets in hand in an IPL 2023 match against the Rajasthan Royals. From then on, he forged yet another destructive partnership with Ravindra Jadeja and stretched the match to the last over. Needing 21 off 6 balls, he hit back-to-back sixes off Sandeep Sharma but failed to hit another off the final ball when five runs were needed. Sandeep held his nerve and delivered the perfect yorker to stop a rampaging Dhoni, who scored an unbeaten 32 off 17 balls with three sixes.
The CSK captain has been in terrific form in this IPL. He has faced only 27 balls in four matches so far, got out only once and smashed 58 runs at a strike rate of 214.81 with six sixes and two fours. And he has done all of this while battling a knee injury.
Since the start of the 16th edition of the IPL, there have been doubts over Dhoni's availability before every match. He has not been 100% fit and yet somehow not only managed to take the field every time, keep wickets, and lead the side but has also hit towering sixes with whatever little opportunities he has got with the bat.
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On Wednesday against RR, Dhoni however needed to be at his absolute best both in terms of fitness and his batting prowess. He was immaculate in the latter but faltered in the fitness part.
It first came to light in the last ball of the 18th over when Ravindra Jadeja clipped Adam Zampa off his pad and set off quickly, sensing a double. Dhoni, who usually doesn't need a second invitation to steal a run, however, gingered his way to the striker's end, showing no intent whatsoever of coming back for a second run.
In the penultimate over, Jason Holder landed a yorker. Dhoni drilled it towards long-on and limped for a single. It was evident that the CSK captain was battling pain and a possible knee injury.
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Even in the last over of Sandeep Sharma, Dhoni, after hitting a couple of sixes, flicked one to deep mid-wicket but showed no signs of putting pressure on the fielder by running the first one hard. He simply couldn't, the knee was preventing him from running at his usual pace.
After the match, in which CSK lost by three runs, head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed that the knee injury hampered Dhoni's movements.
"He is nursing a knee injury, which you can see in some of his movements, which is hindering him somewhat. But still what you saw today is a great player for us. His fitness has always been very professional," Fleming told reporters.
The former New Zealand captain, who has been associated with CSK for a long time now, said there is not much doubt over Dhoni's fitness as he puts in a lot of hard work in the month leading up to the IPL every year.
"He comes a month before the tournament starts, so he doesn't get the opportunity to do a lot [before that]," Fleming said. "He will stay fit, they will do some netting in Ranchi, but his main pre-season [fitness] is done a month before when he comes to Chennai. And he works his way back into match-form and I think you can still see he's playing pretty well. So we never have any doubts about the way he manages himself and he always gets himself up to speed."