MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli share a warm hug before the IPL 2024 opener© X (Twitter)
The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kick-started on Friday with the blockbuster clash between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. Playing under the new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK began their IPL 2024 campaign with a thumping six-wicket win. Opting to bat first, RCB posted a total of 173/6 after Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik stitched a brilliant 95-run partnership. However, that total wasn’t enough as CSK chased down the target in just 18.4 overs.
Apart from this brilliant chase, another thing which caught everyone’s attention was the heartwarming meet-up between former CSK skipper MS Dhoni and RCB’s star batter Virat Kohli.
Before the start of the innings, both Dhoni and Kohli shared an adorable hug, which left the fans awestruck. The video of their meeting soon went viral on social media and fetched a lot of love from the fans.
Bonding#Mahirat #ViratKohli #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/EcpE1ZzW4i
— Mr.கட்டவுட்ᴱᶠᶠᵒʳᵗˢ ᴺᵉᵛᵉʳ ᶠᵃᶦˡ 🇮🇳(@anandAJITHAK) March 23, 2024
Talking about the game, Mustafizur Rahman set it up with his bagful of cerebral variations before Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube got the job done with their superlative finishing skills to script a comfortable six-wicket win for Chennai Super Kings over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL opener on Friday. CSK, who have not lost to RCB at home since 2008, thus kept their enviable record intact.
Mustafizur, with his best ever IPL figures of 4/29 in four overs, was largely responsible for restricting RCB to 173 for six on a good batting track, where a 95-run sixth wicket stand off 50 balls between Anuj Rawat (48 off 25 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (38 not out off 26 balls) was the visitors’ only saving grace.
Jadeja (25 not out off 17 balls) brought his oodles of experience just when things could have got tricky in the run chase, hurrying a rusty Dube (34 off 28 balls) into completing some quick doubles to complete the chase in 18.4 overs. Dube also grew in confidence in Jadeja’s company towards the end as he finished the chase in a jiffy.
Credit should also be given to Rachin Ravindra (37 off 15 balls), who teed off in brilliant fashion with three sixes and as many boundaries to set the tone.
(With PTI Inputs)
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