Andre Russell had to cover his ears as fans whistled and cheered for MS Dhoni during the CSK vs KKR IPL 2024 match in Chennai.
Chepauk exploded when MS Dhoni made his way into the field while adjusting the gloves; bat tucked between his left arm and body. In between, Ravindra Jadeja tried to pull off a prank by pretending to come out to bat at the fall of Shivam Dube’s wicket. Chennai Super Kings needed only three runs to win the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. That would mean, hardly a couple of deliveries of Dhoni, maybe three at best. But try telling that to the packed Chennai crowd. All they cared about was the sight of Dhoni with the bat in hand.
Andre Russell covers his ears after fans cheer for MS Dhoni(Chakri Dhoni/ X)
This has been the scene for the last couple of years pretty much everywhere CSK has gone to play. Dhoni has reached a certain stage in his career where runs scored by him hardly matter to the spectators. They just wanna marvel at his presence. But in Chennai, it’s louder than the loudest. The noise they make for their Thala is unmatchable, unimaginable… unbearable if you are in the opposition camp.
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Ask KKR’s Andre Russell. No stranger to loud cheers and anticipation when he walks out to bat at the Eden Gardens, the West Indies all-rounder had to cover his ears to save himself from the noise Chepauk made when Dhoni was marking his guard against KKR left-arm spinner Anukul Roy.
So loud was the whistlepodu gang that Russell, standing at deep cover, had no option but to cover his ears. The video of the incident went viral within minutes after CSK beat KKR by 7 wickets. The winning hit did not come from Dhoni’s bat but the CSK fans didn’t care.
Andre Russell covers his ear after fans whistle, cheer for MS Dhoni in Chepauk
Jadeja strangled the batting power of Kolkata to 137-9 with 3-18 in the middle overs, and Gaekwad cruised Chennai to 141-3 in 17.4 overs for their third home win.
Gaekwad, who had only 88 runs in the previous four games, scored an unbeaten 67 off 58 balls and marshalled the chase with a 70-run second wicket stand with Daryl Mitchell, who made 25.
Mitchell was clean bowled by Sunil Narine, but impact substitute Shivam Dube clubbed three sixes and a boundary in his quickfire 28 off 18 balls.
The thumping seven-wicket win lifted Chennai among the top four with three wins in five games.
Kolkata couldn’t capitalize on a blazing power play of 56-1 by Narine and Raghuvanshi after Phil Salt was out to a catch first ball off fast bowler Tushar Deshpande.
Narine smashed two sixes and three boundaries in a 20-ball 27 and Raghuvanshi made an 18-ball 24 before Jadeja claimed their wickets among three in his first eight balls.
Gaekwad’s plan to turn back to his seamers in the death overs worked well as Kolkata lost four wickets for just 28 runs in the last four overs.
Mustafizur Rahman claimed both of his wickets in the last over when his cutters conceded only two runs, while Deshpande finished with 3-33.
