Dhoni's Top 5 IPL knocks

 News of Time Sport 

W hen MS Dhoni takes the field for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sep tember 19, he will do so as a former India cricketer.  Having announced his retire.  ment from international cricket last month, the upcoming IPL is a fresh chapter in Dho ni's long, illustrious career.  There will no longer be any chatter about his India future, and his each and every move is unlikely to be dissected as much as it once was.  Given that his legacy is set in stone and he has nothing to lose from hereon, it might just free up the 39 - year - old and enable him to take a bolder and less circumspect ap proach to his batting.  If he does so, he will simply be rewinding the clock to his young er days.  He, of course, has played no competitive cricket since the 50 - over World Cup in July last year, but the word is that he is looking in excellent touch at the nets.  While his batting approach will be keenly observed, this season could prove to be one of his tougher assignments as captain.  With the recent withdrawals of senior pros Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh in addition to less practice time for the team due to a long er quarantine period, CSK's preparations have hit several roadblocks.  The squad, too, contains a lot of players who are in their late 30s and need to be man aged wisely.  Judging by Dhoni's own record, though, these adversities are sure to get his competitive juices flowing and spur him on to try and lead CSK to his fourth IPL title. 

Dhoni Top 5 IPL knocks 

DHONI'S TOP 5 IPL KNOCKS 54 * (29 balls) vs KXIP, 2010 

With CSK's qualification for the semis on the line, MS Dhoni produced a captain's knock.  Chasing 193, CSK were left with 16 to get from Irfan Pathan's final over.  Dhoni smashed a four before hitting two mighty sixes to finish the job.  A punch of the jaw showed how much the win mattered.

 64 * (49) vs KXIP, 2016 

Dhoni's innings was a rare highlight in a poor season where Rising Pune Supergiants weren't too successful.  Needing 23 from the final over .seemed a gigantic task, but the equation became even more difficult when it boiled down to 12 from 2. But Dhoni backed himself against Axar Patel's left - arm spin and smashed two massive sixes.  

51 * (20) vs MI, 2012 

Another example of Dhoni's big match temperament.  In the eliminator against Mumbai Indians in 2012, Dhoni smashed 51 * off 20 balls against an attack spearheaded by Lasith Malinga.  Dhoni's exploits took CSK to 187 for 5, a total which proved beyond Mumbai's reach.

75 * (46) vs Royals, 2019 

While Dhoni was no longer at his peak as a batsman, he showed that he could still produce the goods when his team needed them.  Coming in at 27 for 3, what ensued was a masterclass from Dhoni on how to build a T20 innings on a sluggish track.

70 (34) vs RCB 2018

Chasing 206 against RCB in Bengaluru, it seemed like Dhoni had left himself too much to do when they needed 45 from the last 3 overs.  But Dhoni had timed the chase to perfection.  He was merely waiting to capitalize on the weaker bowlers - Mohammed Siraj and Corey Anderson and did so as expected.