Back in 2008, MS Dhoni was the poster boy for the inaugural Indian Premier League, as the then Indian skipper was exactly the man that Lalit Modi needed to build his baby around.
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Over the next ten years, Mahi became a pivotal figure in the league’s history, as he became one of IPL’s best players whilst playing for both CSK and RPSG. The legendary keeper has given us all some amazing moments, as fans fondly recall those moments and smile to themselves.
Top five MS Dhoni moments in IPL history!
2011 – Back to back IPL titles
This was the peak of MS Dhoni’s career, as the CSK skipper led his team to consecutive IPL titles after beating RCB in the final.
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A couple of weeks after leading India to a historic World Cup triumph, Dhoni followed that up by lifting the IPL trophy and established himself as one of the greatest skippers to have played the game.
This was the first and only time that a team had successfully defended their IPL title, making this moment all the more special. Dhoni was untouchable at this point, and one could only marvel at the man who just could not do anything wrong at that point.
2010 – Last over finish against KXIP
Arguably the greatest finisher that the game has ever seen, MS Dhoni has pulled off several miraculous wins over the course of his legendary career.
This one stands out in most people’s minds, as CSK needed to win this in order to qualify for the playoffs. After coming under much criticism from some pundits and fans alike, Dhoni walked into the middle with his team perilously close to elimination.
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It all came down to 16 of the last over, as Irfan Pathan charged in to bowl at MS Dhoni. Mahi smashed a boundary and two massive sixes to send CSK fans in ecstasy, as the captain’s 54 off 29 deliveries took his team home.
In a rare display of emotion, Dhoni used some expletive words after the winning six, and gave himself a right uppercut to boot, before he was engulfed by his delighted team mates!
2013 – Incredible victory against SRH
In what he considered to be one of his greatest IPL innings, Mahi took his team home against SRH in the most unlikeliest of circumstances.
With all of CSK’s big guns gone, Dhoni found himself needing to score the remaining 30 runs of 16 balls to take his team home.
Mahi scored 67 off just 37 balls that night, and was brutal on the fearsome Dale Steyn. Dhoni smashed him for a six and a four in the penultimate over, including an incredible forearm smash for six.
Reddy had to defend 15 runs in the final over, but hardly stood a chance against MS Dhoni who knocked off the runs with two balls to spare.
2016 – 23 runs off the final over against Axar Patel
This was yet another freak performance from Mahi, as he smashed 23 runs from the last over to win an incredible match for RPSG.
In spite of a poor season with the Pune franchise, Dhoni ensured one memorable moment for the RPSG side, as he flicked Axar Patel for 23 runs to hand an improbable win to his side.
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It all came down to Pune requiring a six to win on the last ball, with Dhoni on strike. All the discussions between captain and bowler proved to be fruitless, as one last blow from Dhoni was enough to script yet another memorable chapter in the MS Dhoni story.
2017 – MS Dhoni trolls Kevin Pietersen
It was at the beginning of last season’s IPL, when Kevin Pietersen was commentating on one of RPSG’s matches.
Manoj Tiwary was wired up and speaking to the commentators whilst on the field. KP then asked Tiwary to go up to MS Dhoni and tell him that he was not as good as the Englishman in golf.
After Tiwary relayed the message, Dhoni immediately responded by reminding KP that he was still his first ever Test wicket, prompting all the commentators to roar with laughter.
Twitter was on fire, as Mahi’s comment started trending worldwide and showed us all that he still had that spark in him!
