Watch: MS Dhoni Hurts Already Injured Knee During Gujarat Titans Match; Fans Left Worried

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in considerable pain after landing awkwardly on his knee during Friday’s five-wicket loss to defending champions Gujarat Titans in the opening match of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The video of Dhoni grimacing in pain made the Chennai team management and fans worried, but much to everyone’s relief, the wicketkeeper-batsman was able to shake it off eventually.

The incident happened in the dying stages of the match with CSK pacer Deepak Chahar bowling a delivery down the leg side. The ball deflected off Rahul Tewatia’s pads and raced towards the boundary. Dhoni put in valiant dive but in vain. What’s worse, he looked to hurt his left knee in the bargain. The match had to be halted for a brief moment as the CSK physio had to be called in for treatment.

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Dhoni got back on his feet and completed the match, but since the match ended soon after, the actual nature of Dhoni’s injury would be clearer in the next few days. See the video here:

“MS Dhoni falling there and straightaway feeling the knee. See the grimace on the face. It could be cramps as well," former India coach Ravi Shastri said during commentary.

Initially, Dhoni’s participation was put under doubt by an injury to the very knee that he hurt during the GT innings. He was seen wearing a knee cap while batting in practice on Wednesday and skipped batting practice on Thursday. He reportedly took painkillers to get ready for the IPL lung opener on Friday. It was being said that he would not bat in the match but will be used by the franchise as an ‘Impact Player’, coming in to keep wickets and captain the side.

CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, however, was confident that Dhoni will play against GT. “As far as I am concerned, the skipper is 100 percent playing. I don’t know about any other development," he told PTI.

The 41-year-old Dhoni had not looked in discomfort during the CSK innings, scoring an unbeaten 14 off 7 balls. He also hit a six that brought back memories of the Dhoni of old.

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