MS Dhoni on Monday set a huge record as his team, Chennai Super Kings, locks horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Final in Ahmedabad. The legendary wicketkeeper-batter has now become the first-ever cricketer to appear in 250 IPL matches. He is also the first Indian player to reach this feat. The season finale against Gujarat at the Narendra Modi Stadium has also marked his IPL final and 10 as CSK captain.
While Dhoni leads the charts with 250 IPL appearances, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma stands second with 243 appearances. Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is next on the list with 242 games followed by Virat Kohli (237), Ravindra Jadeja (226) and Shikhar Dhawan (217). Out of these active IPL stars, Virat is the only cricketer who has played for the same franchise in all 16 editions.
Dhoni walked out for the toss on Monday and decided to bowl first after winning it. He hoped that the crowd would enjoy the game as they were dejected as the final was postponed to Reserve Day due to rain on Sunday.
“We’ll bowl first with the rain forecast being around. Yesterday we were in the dressing room. As a cricketer, you always want to play. It was the crowd that suffered the most. Hopefully, we can entertain them. The pitch has been under the cover for a long time, but throughout the tournament, the pitch has behaved well over here. Quite happy it will be a 20-over game we’ll be playing. Serves justice to the tournament like this. Same team,” Dhoni said at the toss.
Dhoni’s days with CSK
MS Dhoni is one of the constants in the CSK camp, who came in 2008 and has been leading the team since then. No other team has played as many IPL finals as CSK in the past 16 years. He might not be the same finisher which he used to be but he continues to be the strongest pillar of the team.
Most appearances in IPL playoffs
28 – MS Dhoni
24 – Suresh Raina
23 – Ravindra Jadeja
23 – Ambati Rayudu
Dhoni has represented CSK in 219 games, scoring 4508 runs in 190 innings. Overall, iN 249 matches, the former Indian captain has scored 5,082 runs at an average of 39.09 and a strike rate of 135.96 in 217 innings. He has smashed 24 half-centuries and is also the seventh-highest run scorer in the IPL.
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