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Cricket Players'Is this Dhoni from 2011?': Ex-India batter flabbergasted at MSD's 'unbelievable' sixes against 'world's fastest bowler'
Facing off against Mark Wood, one of the world's fastest bowlers, MS Dhoni went 6, 6 and out as the Chepauk crowd went over the moon.
Three days ago, India celebrated the 12th anniversary of Team India's 2011 World Cup win. It took the Indian team 28 years to not only repeat what Kapil Dev and his devils accomplished back in 1983 but go a step further by becoming the first team to win the World Cup at home. MS Dhoni's star-studded team boasting a blend of youth and experience achieved the ultimate glory when the captain himself launched Nuwan Kulasekara into the nigh sky and then the stands to trigger euphoria in 1.3 billion people.
Cut to present – the year is 2023 and barring Virat Kohli, all the members of that World Cup winning squad have retired, including Dhoni. But boy, MSD did not forget to celebrate the occasion and provide the fans a glimpse of his former destructive self. The day after India's World Cup anniversary, Dhoni lit up the MA Chidambaram Stadium during Chennai Super Kings' IPL 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants by bludgeoning consecutive sixes to play a cameo of 12 off 3 balls. Facing off against Mark Wood, one of the world's fastest bowlers, Dhoni went 6, 6 and out as the Chepauk crowd went over the moon.
Dhoni's sixes off the first two balls brought back memories of the 2011 World Cup, at least to former India opener Aakash Chopra, who was pretty flabbergasted to see this version of Dhoni emerge to the fore at 41 years of age.
"MS Dhoni scored 12 runs and the victory margin in Chennai's win against Lucknow was 12 runs. CSK had come to Chennai after 1426 days – brilliant, Thala. This love story is written in heaven. I am wondering is this MS Dhoni from 2011 or 2023. Mark Wood, probably the fastest bowler in the world right now, was in front of MS Dhoni," Chopra said on his YouTube video.
Dhoni walked in to bat at No. 8 in the last over of the innings with CSK already strongly placed at 203/7. With five balls to go, Wood bowled it short and wide to which Dhoni hammered him over point for six. Next ball, Wood went for a bouncer targetted at Dhoni's body, but the CSK captain showed the reflexes of a 25-year-old pulling it for a humongous six. He eventually perished the next ball, going for another glory shot but he had done his job.
"The first ball was outside the off-stump, he played a cut and it went for a six over third man. I was like - Wow. Second ball, short ball, outside off-stump, now this is a tough shot to play and he hit that for another six. They were two unbelievable shots. He rewound the clock and how. Just think about it that you come to play your first match here after 1426 days and you hit two sixes in the three balls you face from the world's fastest bowler," Chopra pointed out.
