IPL: MS Dhoni achieves the milestone of taking 100 catches

The world finally witnessed the start of much-awaited IPL 2020 when defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings braced the field for the season-opener at Abu Dhabi.

Besides the commencement of this year’s IPL, all eyes were on the return of CSK skipper MS Dhoni. The Ranchi stalwart had stunned the entire cricket fraternity by bidding adieu to international cricket on August 15th.

After the end of his career with Team India, ardent fans were eager to see him brace the field while wearing the yellow jersey in IPL 2020. Their wish finally came true when ‘Mahi’ stepped on the field for the toss in the season-opener.

CSK, after winning the toss, elected to bat first. It was Dhoni behind the stumps and he instantly etched a record after making his return to the field. In the opening fixture of IPL 2020, Dhoni joined the milestone of taking 100 catches in the tournament. He has taken 96 of those catches as a wicketkeeper and the remaining four were grabbed by him as a fielder.

MS Dhoni and Co aiming to lift their fourth IPL trophy

After electing to field first, even lauded every member of the CSK contingent for enduring the ‘difficult’ quarantine period, especially after multiple members of their camp tested positive for coronavirus. CSK have been jolted with multiple blows upon their arrival in the UAE. After their multiple members tested positive for Covid-19, CSK witnessed the departure of their two veterans– Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Barring all the obstacles, the Yellow Army are still expected to clinch their fourth IPL trophy under the leadership of ‘Thala’ Dhoni.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Dinesh Karthik currently leads this list with 109 plucks, followed by Suresh Raina with 102. Dhoni is now third in the list and is expected to pave his way up during the course of the tournament.

CSK, meanwhile, put up an impressive display by restricting MI to 162/9 in the first innings. Lungi Ngidi’s three-wicket haul broke Mumbai’s middle-order and prevented them from posting a massive total on the scoreboard. Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja also hogged the limelight by scalping two wickets each.