rubber plantation

With many believing that IPL 2023 could be the last time Dhoni will be playing in the tournament, Chennai's matches in and out of Chepauk have turned into an incredible sea of yellow, as many wait to watch the maverick wicketkeeper-batter in action.

He did not concede a single boundary in his spell on Saturday night, with the standout being taking out Nehal Wadhera with an accurate and fiery 145kph yorker and denying Mumbai the finishing kick they needed. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad praised Pathirana for his spell and revealed that he doesn't face the pacer with a slinging action in the nets as his deliveries are tough to be picked.

Pushed into batting first, Mumbai's innings never got going as they lost their top-three in Power-play. Barring Nehal Wadhera's 64 off 50 balls, his maiden IPL fifty and twin fifty-plus stands with Suryakumar Yadav and Tristan Stubbs, there was nothing of note as Mumbai ended up at 139/8, which Chennai chased down with 14 balls to spare.

On Saturday, against Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Sharma, who had scored a three-ball duck in his previous game against Punjab Kings at Mohali, decided to bat at number three, with Australia all-rounder Cameron Green opening the batting with Ishan Kishan.

At the same time, Dhoni said Pathirana should be handled with care, adding that the youngster shouldn't be playing red-ball cricket. Pathirana was on fire in his spell at the back end of the innings, giving away just 15 runs in his four overs. He did not concede a single boundary in his spell while picking three wickets, including taking out Nehal Wadhera with an accurate and fiery 145kph yorker, denying Mumbai the finishing kick they needed after losing their top three batters in power-play as they ended up at 139/8.

The win also means Chennai recorded their first win over Mumbai at home after 4,777 days, making it just the second time after 2014 that they recorded two league stage wins over the visitors. With the convincing victory, Chennai also climb to second place in the points table, while Mumbai continue to be in sixth position.

It is also Rohit's 16th duck in the IPL, the most for any batter in the history of the competition. He has surpassed Dinesh Karthik, Mandeep Singh and Sunil Narine, who are now joint second with 15 ducks each. Rohit, who had scored a three-ball duck in his previous game against Punjab Kings at Mohali, decided to bat at No.3 in Chennai, with Australia all-rounder Cameron Green opening the batting with Ishan Kishan.

The former India cricketer, when asked during the toss against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow, about his retirement talks bowled a googly telling commentator Danny Morrison that he never commented on whether or not IPL 2023 will be his last season. The four-time IPL winning captain's statement was enough to trigger a debate over his retirement rumours and even the esteemed experts in the Star Sports commentary panel weren't untouched by it.

The CSK skipper was handed mementos by Rajiv Shukla ahead of the match against Lucknow Super Giants with a huge roar from the crowd, the majority of whom were garbed in Chennai's yellow jerseys. However, rain played a spoilsport as the match between LSG and Chennai Super Kings CSK was officially called off with 19.2 overs bowled in the first innings after Lucknow made 125 for 7.

After winning the toss, Chennai Super Kings opted to bowl first and kept LSG batters at bay with the scintillating bowling efforts before Ayush Badoni's unbeaten 59 off 22 injected momentum in the slog overs as Lucknow Super Giants scored 125/7 in 19.2 overs.