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Cricket PlayersWatch: MS Dhoni winces in pain after landing awkwardly on injured knee during GT vs CSK IPL tie, video injects fear
The moment MS Dhoni's knee hit the ground, he could be seen wincing in pain – a sight very rare in world cricket.
Fans waited with bated breath for MS Dhoni to get back on his feet after the Chennai Super Kings captain landed awkwardly on his injured left knee during the dying stages of their IPL 2023 opener against the Gujarat Titans on Friday. Dhoni, who was a doubtful starter for the match in the first place, pulled through and was cleared to play. He looked at ease for almost the entire course of the match – batted fluently to score 14 not out off 7 balls and was at his alert self behind the stumps as well… until the dreaded 19th over of the GT innings bowled by Deepak Chahar.
The CSK pacer drifted one down Rahul Tewatia's legs and the ball, after hitting the pads, raced behind for a boundary, beating a diving Dhoni in the process. The 41-year-old, in the spur of moment, dived to his right but fell painfully on his left knee. While it did not look that concerning at first, the moment the camera panned back on him is when everyone realised the severity of it. Dhoni, with a grimace on his face, was favouring his knee as play was halted briefly and the physio had to be called in.
The replay produced a better picture. The moment Dhoni's knee hit the ground, he could be seen wincing in pain – a sight very rare in world cricket. Dhoni has played with a bad back, a blurry vision after injuring his eye in a freak accident and while any other player would have retired hurt, MSD never did. However, last night was a rare oddity as Dhoni was clearly in a lot of discomfort after the point of impact. The physio then attended Dhoni, and did enough to ensure that the CSK captain got back on his feet, but with only 7 balls bowled after that, the reality – and we hope not – could be something else.
"MS Dhoni falling there and straightaway feeling the knee. See the grimace on the face. It could be cramps as well," a concerned Ravi Shastri said on air.
Watch the video here:
The matter could prove serious because it was this very knee that had put Dhoni's participation in the match under the scanner. A couple of days ahead of the contest, Dhoni was carrying a niggle, which after this injury scare, proves that it's far from recovering 100 percent. In fact on Thursday, Dhoni did not even bat, and the day before when he did, MSD was wearing a knee cap - it was reported that he even took painkiller shots to be ready on time. This almost ruled him out of, with reports stating that Dhoni was likely to miss the grand IPL 2023 opener. Another theory floated that Dhoni may not bad, but be used by CSK as captain and wicketkeeper using the Impact Player rule. Fortunately, none of it happened and Dhoni lasted the entire match. However, certain fans were worried about this little accident of Dhoni's on the field and hopes all is well.
Injured knee or not, it didn't have any bearing on Dhoni the batter, as his small cameo lifted CSK to 178/7. Dhoni smacked a six – his 200th for CSK – and a four off the final over of the innings to take his team beyond 175, although it was a kind of total Dhoni and CSK wouldn't exactly be happy with. Given the explosive start Ruturaj Gaikwad provided by blazing away to 92 off 50 balls, a knock that included nine sixes and four boundaries, CSK at one stage looked set to breach the 200-run margin pretty easily. But a strong comeback from overs 12 to 17 by GT strangled the CSK innings with Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami and Alzarri Joseph grabbing two wickets each. Despite the defeat though, Dhoni was high on praise for Gaikwad and young Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who on his IPL debut, picked up 3/36.
"We all knew there will be dew. We could have done a bit more with the batsman ship. Ruturaj (Gaikwad) was brilliant, he times the ball well and he's a pleasure to watch. The way he picks his options, it is pleasing to watch. I think it's important for the youngsters to step in. I think Raj (Hangargekar) has pace and he will get better with time," Dhoni said after the match.
