‘I know the reason…’: Samson skips Dhoni’s name again in his latest act. Cricket
When MS Dhoni plays in the IPL, almost every venue becomes his ‘home’ ground. A sea of yellow, CSK chants are pretty typical when Dhoni walks out as Chennai Super Kings captain in an IPL match. But considering the fact that the ongoing IPL 2023 could be his last as a professional cricketer, the craze for Dhoni and support for CSK has grown exponentially everywhere the franchise has played so far.
Kolkata’s Eden Gardens was painted yellow because of Dhoni. There was a similar picture at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium as well. And on Thursday it was the turn of Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. It didn’t bother the fans that it was their home team Rajasthan Royals’ 200th IPL match. It didn’t matter to them that RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bat first. They only wanted a sight of MS Dhoni.
When it was Dhoni’s turn to talk to former India cricketer Murali Karthik at the time of the toss, there was a wave of happiness. As far as Samson was concerned, his obsession with Dhoni went unnoticed. He did not take Dhoni’s name but made his point very clear.
“It’s a really great feeling (leading the team in their historic 200th IPL match). I’ve been a part of this franchise for 8-10 years, it’s a big achievement for me, but I would have liked to see something pink Today here at the stadium but I see yellow and we all know what is the reason,” Samson said with a smile.
This is not the first time that Samson has made huge praise for Dhoni without taking his name. In the last outing between these two teams, Samson referred to Dhoni as “that guy” During the post-match press conference.
Dhoni said that the pace of the itch is good but the average bounce is a bit low. “We are trying to build character in our team (bowlers) and make them believe in themselves. That’s the side for us as well.”
CSK are on top of the table with five wins, two losses and 10 points. They won their previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 49 runs. RR are third in the points table with four wins and three losses. They have eight points and lost their last match to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by seven runs.
Rajasthan Royals XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c/c), Mathisha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Mahesh Theekshana, Akash Singh.
