'He is nursing a knee injury'- Stephen Fleming opens up on MS Dhoni's fitness

On Wednesday, April 12, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) almost pulled off a dramatic victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 17th match of the IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai. CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted until the final over, but with 5 runs needed from the final delivery to win the match, he couldn't get the ball to the boundary, allowing Sanju Samson and Co. to win by three runs.

Following the game, CSK coach Stephen Fleming revealed that Dhoni had a knee injury. He went on to say that Dhoni's fitness has always been professional. The former India skipper looked in fine form as he hit some of his iconic sixes, particularly against spinners. Notably, he hit 32 off 17 balls, building a significant partnership with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 25 off 15 balls.

"He is strong. He is nursing a knee injury which you can see in some of his movement, which is hindering him somewhat. Still what you saw today (Wednesday)... a great player for us. His fitness has always been professional. He comes in months before the tournament starts, so he doesn’t get the opportunity to do a lot. To say fit, he does some netting in Ranchi, but his main pre-season is a month before he comes to Chennai," Fleming said in a post-match press conference.

The former New Zealand captain also stated that MS Dhoni works his way back into form and he will still play quite well. He added that the franchise has no concerns about how Dhoni controls himself since he always gets himself up to speed.

“He works his way back into match form, and you can still see he is playing pretty well. We never have any doubts about the way he manages himself. He always gets himself up to speed,” Fleming added.

RR beat CSK by 3 runs in a last-ball thriller

Speaking about the game, CSK won the toss and chose to field first. The hosts restricted RR by 175 runs, with Akash Singh, Tushar Deshpande, and Ravindra Jadeja each grabbing two wickets and Moeen Ali scalping one. 

CSK lost early wickets during the chase, but Devon Conway managed to score a half-century. CSK needing 21 runs off the last six balls in the penultimate over, Dhoni was able to strike two sixes against Sandeep Sharma. However, the bowler bounced back and helped his side to seal a 3-run win over the four-time champions.