The press box at the Wankhede is sufficiently well insulated to prevent most of the crowd noise from seeping through. But on Sunday, you couldn’t hear the person sitting next to you. On the platforms was a bedroom.
On the eve of CSK’s match against Mumbai – the only time these two teams meet in the league stage this year – Dhoni was not timing the big shots in the nets. Even grooved balls were sliced towards where deep cover or long cover would be. He connected a few towards the end of the nets period, but only to the side.
Hardik bowled a length ball to welcome Dhoni on Sunday. It was wide outside. Dhoni stood still and smashed it wide. First ball six. Bonkers.
Hardik quickly turned to the top of his spot and bowled another length ball. Dhoni’s role in the last two IPL seasons has been clear – come in as late as possible and just look to hit the ball into the stands. Length balls are some of the easiest to do this, and he put it right one-way – flat and long.
Hardik was about to run out again but Tim David ran in from long off to slow down the game. Dhoni got some breathing space. He looked around the pitch – middle, long off, cover and point were on the boundary. Hardik’s plan was to bowl outside off, but a couple of sides earlier in the over against Mitchell might have changed that. The home captain was under pressure and it showed.
He went looking for the next ball but ended up bowling it on the stumps, which Dhoni flicked over backward square leg. “Mayhem Singh Dhoni” flashed on the big screen at the ground as the crowd went ballistic.
A Dhoni six would have been on everyone’s wish list when they left their homes. they got three in three balls. Dhoni was only the third to hit the first three balls of his innings for sixes in the IPL. Even those fans in MI blue didn’t complain.
The crowd took some time to return the ball, which gave Hardik more time at the top. Once again David was in his ear. He pushed third back and got point off the last ball, which was an off-pace length ball. Dhoni looked to loop it on the on side but only got an inside edge for two.
Twenty runs from just four balls to take CSK to 206. Job done, Dhoni rushed back to change his gear for the defence. As he walked up the stairs to the dressing room, he stopped to pick up something a fan had dropped and returned it to them over the barricade before continuing. Dhoni’s number six this season is 16 off 82 balls and 124 of his 163 runs have come in boundaries. However, the Mumbai crowd didn’t care about the numbers. A blistering Dhoni special tops all that.