Picture of MS Dhoni's 2.27m stretch to dismiss Vijay Shankar during CSK vs GT IPL 2024 match goes viral
MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) keeper-batter and former captain, continues to amaze with his age-defying antics. On Tuesday, March 26, he pulled off a spectacular diving catch in the IPL 2024 game between the Super Kings and Gujarat Titans
CSK beat GT by 63 runs in match number seven of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai to register their second win in the tournament. One of the standout features of Chennai's clinical triumph was their brilliant fielding.
The excellent effort in the field was led by the 42-year-old Dhoni, who took a superb diving catch to send back Gujarat Titans batter Vijay Shankar for a run-a-ball 12. Set to chase a big total of 207, GT were in early trouble at 34-22. Things became worse following Dhoni's catch to send Shankar on his way.
In the eighth over of Gujarat Titans' innings, Shankar tried to drive a delivery outside off stump from Super Kings pacer Daryl Mitchell. He, however, ended up edging the ball. Defying his age, Dhoni judged the ball brilliantly and dived to his right to pull off a spectacular catch.
The X handle of IPL shared an image of Dhoni's full-length dive, which revealed that the CSK keeper-batter had stretched 2.27 meters to complete the grab. The image of the veteran's stretch is going viral on social media.
After Dhoni's acrobatic effort to send back Shankar, another veteran, Ajinkya Rahane, also pulled off a stunning diving catching, running in from cow corner to dismiss David Miller for 21 off pacer Tushar Deshpande.
Gujarat Titans never got into any position to chase down the 200-plus total and were eventually restricted to 163-8. Sai Sudharsan (37 off 31) was the only batter to cross the 30-run mark. For Chennai, Deepak Chahar, Deshpande and left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman claimed two scalps each.
Shivam Dube, Rachin Ravindra shine for CSK with the bat
Sent into bat by Gujarat Titans, defending champions Chennai Super Kings put up an impressive total of 206-6. Shivam Dube excelled with 51 off 23, slamming two fours and five sixes.
Earlier, opener Rachin Ravindra got CSK off to a flyer, clubbing six fours and three sixes in his 20-ball 46. Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad contributed a sedate 46 off 32, while Mitchell chipped in with 24* and Sameer Rizvi 14 off 6.