MS Dhoni is at that stage of his IPL career where the match situation, opposition, and venue don't matter. Wherever he bats, whatever he does, whoever he plays against, there is nothing but love, respect and adulation. It has been like this in the IPL for the last few years - The tournament has acted as a giant celebration of Dhoni's greatness. The reactions of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya after the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru match at Chepauk added another chapter.
When Dhoni came out to bat at No.9—yes, you read that right—the match was already over as CSK needed 98 runs of just 28 balls with three wickets in hand. The question was how big RCB's winning margin would be. In the end, it was 50 runs. That is mainly due to some late hitting by Ravindra Jadeja (25 off 19) and Dhoni (20* off 16). It was a landmark moment for RCB as they had finally beached CSK's fortress for the first time since 2008 and gotten off to a dream start in IPL 2025 with back-to-back convincing wins to firmly occupy the top spot in the points table but till Dhoni was in the middle, it was all about him.
As soon as the match ended, RCB all-rounder Krunal Pandya hugged Dhoni. This was after he had bowled a bouncer to surprise the legendary cricketer in the second ball of the last over, only to get hit for consecutive sixes off the next two balls. RCB captain Rajat Patidar (51 off 32), who had played a brilliant innings earlier in the day, took his cap off before shaking hands with Dhoni. A mark of respect that Dhoni has earned from all his peers.
{{/usCountry}}As soon as the match ended, RCB all-rounder Krunal Pandya hugged Dhoni. This was after he had bowled a bouncer to surprise the legendary cricketer in the second ball of the last over, only to get hit for consecutive sixes off the next two balls. RCB captain Rajat Patidar (51 off 32), who had played a brilliant innings earlier in the day, took his cap off before shaking hands with Dhoni. A mark of respect that Dhoni has earned from all his peers.
{{/usCountry}}Moments later, it was Kohli's turn to meet Dhoni. He shook his hands before getting involved in a warm and tight embrace, narrating more than a thousand words.
Patidar’s 51 led Bengaluru to 196-7 despite Afghan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad claiming the key wicket of Phil Salt in the powerplay and Virat Kohli’s in the middle overs. Kohli struggled to 31 off 30 balls.
A revamped Bengaluru pace attack comprising of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood clipped Chennai in the first six overs and the home team limped to 146-8.
Hazlewood struck twice in his first over, getting Rahul Tripathi and Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad caught off mistimed pull shots, followed by dismissing Ravindra Jadeja with another short ball.
“It was game-changing (the powerplay) because we got three wickets in the first six overs,” Patidar said. “Amazing to see how they kept it on the hard length because the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat easily.”
Kumar found Deepak Hooda’s faint outside edge and Yash Dayal put Chennai on the mat at 80-6 in the 13th over with the wickets of Shivam Dube and top-scorer Rachin Ravindra (41).
Dube tried to cut Dayal only to inside edge onto his stumps on 19, and then clean-bowled Ravindra with a yorker.