Former England captain-turned-commentator Kevin Pietersen is in awe of the Wankhede crowd’s reaction when MS Dhoni came out to bat in Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) tough 188-run chase versus Punjab Kings (PBKS) in match 38 of IPL 2022 edition, held on Monday evening (April 25).
After the fall of Ambati Rayudu, who played a stupendous 39-ball 78, the Wankhede crowd gave him a resounding cheer before shifting focus on Dhoni, the former CSK skipper. Dhoni came out in the middle on the back of a match-winning 13-ball 28 not out in Chennai’s win over Mumbai in their last encounter. With the equation reading 35 off 13 balls, the CSK loyalists — who were in majority at the Wankhede — still pinned their hopes on the 40-year-old.
Dhoni started the final over, with CSK in need of an improbable 27, with a huge six to light up the atmosphere. However, he fell on the third delivery for an 8-ball 12. Despite his dismissal and CSK’s defeat, the crowd was still buzzing, which left Pietersen stunned. The former cricketer feels such a rousing crowd response is one of the reasons why IPL deserves to be held in India. He also opined that it is the reason for the league, CSK, and Dhoni’s ever-increasing followers worldwide.
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“It was unbelievable. It was incredible. That’s exactly why the IPL deserves to be played in the country. The energy and excitement of that man coming to the wicket is none other than like anywhere else,” Pietersen told Star Sports.
“It’s not a full capacity here as the bottom tier is placarded because of the restrictions. However, that did not matter at all. It was difficult calling the game, it was so noisy inside the commentary box. The support for him, the CSK and the IPL is incredible. It’s still noisy. The game’s finished, they lost and it’s still noisy. Incredible!,” opined Pietersen.
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Talking about the PBKS-CSK face-off, the Mayank Agarwal-led side completed a double over seventh-ranked Chennai with a hard-fought 11-run win. Being asked to bat first, they rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s 88 to post 187-4 before Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Rishi Dhawan starred with the ball to restrict CSK for 176-6.
