With three runs to win, when Dhoni walked out to bat – the noise was deafening and Russell, who was stationed at the boundary had to close his ears with his hands.

Chennai: MS Dhoni may not be biologically connected to Chennai, but the city treats him like their own and this has been the case for nearly two decades now. Even at 42, he happens to be extremely popular among his fans, who crave to get a glimpse of him. During the Kolkata Knight Riders versus Chennai Super Kings IPL match on Monday, Andre Russell got a taste of Dhoni’s popularity. With three runs to win, when Dhoni walked out to bat – the noise was deafening and Russell, who was stationed at the boundary had to close his ears with his hands.

Here is the clip of what exactly transpired:

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja starred with a miserly spell of 3-18 to turn the game on its head, while captain Ruturaj Gaikwad made a welcome return to form through an unbeaten 67 off 58 balls as defending champions Chennai Super Kings registered their third home win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with a seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

Jadeja maintained a stump-to-stump line and made subtle changes in pace and trajectory to rattle KKR’s big hitters in his four overs of a match-defining spell. Fast-bowlers Tushar Deshpande and a retuning Mustafizur Rahman bowled exceptional spells of great lines and lengths coupled with impeccable slower deliveries in the fag end to pick 3-33 and 2-22 respectively.

The trio’s efforts meant KKR were restricted to a below-par 137/9 on a sluggish pitch offering turn. Later, Gaikwad dazzled in front of the faithful home crowd with a flurry of delightful nine boundaries to carry his bat and complete the modest chase with 14 balls to spare.

Coming into this game, Gaikwad had scored 88 runs in four matches with a highest score of 46. But when it mattered, along with dew coming in, he stood up tall and relied on timing plus piercing the gaps to get a comfortable win for CSK. He was also supported by nice 20s from Daryl Mitchell and impact player Shivam Dube in snapping KKR’s unbeaten streak.

(With agency inputs)