MS Dhoni becomes first player to captain in 200 IPL matches
MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings, has become the first player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to captain a franchise in 200 matches. Dhoni was felicitated by the Chennai Super Kings ahead of their game against Rajasthan Royals. Reflecting on his journey in the IPL, Dhoni expressed his gratitude towards Chennai and shared his experience from the 2008 edition of the tournament. IPL 2008 was the first time Indian players shared the dressing room with foreign players in franchise cricket. Chennai had bought one of the most dominating batters at the time – Matthew Hayden in the first edition of the tournament.
Dhoni’s experience in IPL 2008
Dhoni shared his experience of IPL 2008, where he was scared that Hayden would come in and start abusing straight away, since that was the image set in his mind from playing international cricket. However, Hayden surprised everyone by taking the initiative in the team meeting while discussing strategy. The first thing he said was that he would take Brett Lee on. On the next day, he repeated the exact thing in the first or second ball of the game. Dhoni concluded detailing his experience by saying that it was very interesting to see the kind of approach Hayden had.
Dhoni’s risk in the 2008 auction
Dhoni went into the auction pool in the 2008 auction despite winning the 2007 T20 World Cup – the opening edition of the tournament. He said that he wanted to take a risk and hoped for a big payday. « When the auction happened, I went for $1.5 million, and that was the thinking at that time, » Dhoni concluded. Since taking over as the CSK captain, Dhoni has won 4 titles for the Chennai team, the second highest tally in the history of the tournament, only behind Mumbai Indians, who have 5 to their name.
Keywords: MS Dhoni, IPL, Chennai Super Kings, franchise cricket, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, auction, T20 World Cup.
