MS Dhoni conquers Wankhede yet again, fan rushes to shake hands with the legend

It was the very same stadium where Dhoni helped India lift the World Cup in 2011. In a Maharashtra derby game, Rising Pune Supergiant was the away team. But things changed as soon as MS Dhoni walked out to bat in the 13th over. Chants of ‘Dhoni Dhoni’ could be heard loud and clear across the stadium. The former Indian captain enjoys such fan following across every venue of the country irrespective of the team he is playing for.

Dhoni turned the clock back to treat everyone with a brutal knock which used to be associated with him in his pomp. His unbeaten 40 included as many as 5 sixes, two each off Mitchell McClenaghan and death specialist: Jasprit Bumrah. The 35-year-old gave the much-needed impetus to the RPS innings to propel them to a decent score of 162/4 after 20 overs.

Dhoni had oscillated between the brilliant and the banal in his 26-ball knock as he struggled initially to get the ball off the square. But the end was brilliant and that is what matters the most. A target of 163 proved 20 runs too much for Mumbai Indians who lost their third successive game to Pune this year. They will now have to regroup before they take on the winners of the SRH v KKR eliminator on Friday.

Dhoni got the Wankhede crowd going during his razing innings. Mumbai people love their cricket and had turned out in large numbers to cheer for the home side but such is the following of Dhoni, he transcends the competition between two sides. The Wankhede crowd rooted for Dhoni when he was hitting a barrage of sixes and the man from Jharkhand was giving them a reason to go agog.

Fan runs up to Dhoni

After the final rites of the game were completed, the RPS team was congratulating each other for a fantastic 20-run win. Soon a fan surfaced in the field. He had security personnel in hot pursuit but it did not deter him to go up to one of India’s most celebrated cricketers ever: MS Dhoni. The former skipper in turned acknowledged the fan’s effort by shaking hands with him till the security caught up with him. Dhoni has always remained humble despite his huge success over the years.

A similar incident had taken place at the Air Force Grounds in New Delhi in March when Dhoni was playing for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. A fan had jumped across the boundary and went straight to Dhoni who was batting in the middle. The fan touched Dhoni’s feet as a mark of respect for the champion cricketer. He was done away with by the security but later after the game, he acknowledged the fan by giving him an autograph.

Dhoni is in the last quarter of a once-in-a-century career. His form might have been a little up and down in the last 18 months but his fan following has not dipped one bit. With the prospect of winning a third IPL title ahead, expect Dhoni to bring his A-game to the park on Sunday in Hyderabad.