The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final is set to kick-off on Sunday evening, with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings up against the defending champions Gujarat Titans. Dhoni, who is chasing his 5th title as the captain of CSK, has been a part of the franchise ever since he was bought in the inaugural IPL 2008 auction. The man who had sold him in the bidding war back then, Richard Madley, posted a brilliant tweet ahead of the final of the 16th edition of the league, recalling the first auction.
Madley had sold Dhoni after a bidding war for the wicket-keeper batsman between CSK and Mumbai Indians saw his price rising from USD 400,000 to USD 900,000.
In his tweet on Sunday, Madley called selling Dhoni the highlight of his career.
“Selling #Dhoni in the first #IPL auction was a career highlight & meeting him was very special. He signed this for my son @harrymadley6. Good luck today,” he tweeted along with a picture of Dhoni’s autographs for his son.
selling #Dhoni in the first #IPL The auction was a career highlight & meeting him was very special.
He signed this for my son @harrymadley6
good luck today #CSK #WhistlePodu #yellove pic.twitter.com/8P8vL9VooK— Richard Madley (@iplauctioneer) May 28, 2023
To make this occasion even more memorable, the ‘Captain Cool’ will be making his 250th IPL appearance, his 11th final as a player and his 10th as a skipper.
No other player has played 250 IPL matches and Dhoni is the first player to do so. Dhoni has made most appearances in IPL finals as a player and as a captain.
In IPL, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played for Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant.
In 249 IPL matches so far, Dhoni has scored 5,082 runs at an average of 39.09 and a strike rate of 135.96 in 217 innings. His best score is 84* and he has scored 24 half-centuries. He is the seventh-highest run scorer in the league’s history.
For Chennai Super Kings, the right-handed batsmen have played 219 matches. In 190 innings he has 4508 runs with 22 half-centuries. His highest score was 84. The strike rate is 137.52. Dhoni’s batting average is 40.25.
With ANI inputs
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