IPL 2021: MS Dhoni smokes monstrous sixes to warm up for MI clash, CSK share highlights of intra-squad match – Watch

MS Dhoni may be gearing up for his new role as mentor of the Indian cricket team for the T20 World Cup starting next month. But before that, Dhoni has one more thing on his agenda – leading Chennai Super Kings to their fourth IPL title, when the tournament resumes on Sunday in the UAE. CSK have been the team to beat, as they are placed second on the points table with five wins from seven matches. 

Delhi Capitals may be leading the table but CSK have played a game less. After the debacle of last season, CSK have roared back in style with their captain Dhoni rediscovering his mojo. However, with Dhoni having played no cricket whatsoever since the tournament got postponed in May, the CSK captain needed some sort of practice to prepare himself for the blockbuster clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, so he did exactly that. Dhoni gave himself some game time, albeit in a practice match, as he brought up the big sixes in an intra-squad game and warm-up for Sunday’s game.

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On Saturday, CSK shared a video of their ‘Thala’ bringing out the big shots and signalling his readiness for the first game of the UAE-leg of IPL 2021. And believe it or not, it’s almost as if Dhoni hasn’t skipped a beat. The video was a throwback of Dhoni of old, when he burst onto the scene as a 23-year-old and sent the cricketing world into a frenzy with his aggressive and hard-hitting strokeplay.

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Once again, the biggest Test for Dhoni the batsman would be how quickly can he get in the groove. In last IPL, Dhoni managed to score only 200 runs from 14 games – which is his lowest tally in a single edition of the IPL. Even in the seven matches he played in the 2021 season, Dhoni didn’t exactly set the scoreboard on fire. From seven innings, Dhoni scored 37 runs averaging a little over 12.

However, there doesn’t seem to be any flaw in Dhoni’s captaincy acumen and CSK would be hoping MSD could roll back the years and produce a few classics and lead the team to the top of the mountain again.