IPL 2021: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MS Dhoni) is counted among the top players of the world. He may have retired from international cricket, but there is hardly any decrease in the number of his fans. Under his captaincy, Chennai Super Kings won the title of IPL-2021. Despite this, he does not consider himself to be the top-3 or 4 player of the team.
Chennai defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in the final match of the 14th season of IPL played in Dubai on Friday. CSK thus achieved the distinction of becoming IPL champions for the fourth time. This was Dhoni’s 300th T20 match as captain. With this, the team also avenged the loss to KKR in the 2012 IPL final.
After winning the trophy, Dhoni said, ‘Before I talk about CSK, first I want to say something about KKR. It is very difficult to come back in this league and what they have achieved. If any team deserved to win the IPL, it is KKR. Big credit goes to the coach, team and support staff. The brakes really helped him.’
He further said, ‘We reshuffled the players in the CSK team. We had match winners playing consistently and doing really well. Every final is special, if you look at the statistics, we can say that we are the team that has lost the most times in the final. I think it is important to come back strong, especially in the knockouts.
Say hello to #VIVOIPL 2021 CHAMPIONS#CSKvKKR | #Final | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/1tnq5C6m2F
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 15, 2021
The 40-year-old said, ‘We have to decide what is good for CSK. It’s not about being a top 3 or 4 player for me. We need to ensure that a strong core team is created so that the franchise does not suffer. We will have to work hard to see which player can contribute in the next 10 years.
Dhoni said, ‘To be honest, there is no chat, we do not talk much (meetings). Our practice sessions are like meetings. As soon as you go into the team room, it brings a different kind of pressure. Our practice sessions have been good. I would like to thank the fans. Wherever we have played, even when we were in South Africa, we had a good number of CSK fans. You yearn for the same. Thanks to all of them, it feels like we are playing in Chennai. Hope we come back to Chennai for the fans.
Talking about the match, while batting first, CSK scored a huge score of 192 runs for 3 wickets. In reply, KKR’s team could only score 165 runs. CSK’s opener Faf du Plessis played a brilliant innings of 86 runs which also became the man of the match. At the same time, pacer Shardul Thakur took 3 wickets.