BCCI picture.
Dharmshala: The weekend didn't pay well, it seemed, for 'Thala' MS Dhoni, after he left fans shell-shocked, leaving the pitch after becoming a golden duck. Dhoni was clean bowled by Harshal Patel in the Indian Premier League match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) here on Sunday.
Harshal continued that an advantage of playing a day game is that the square was quite rough, and the ball started reversing.
This was the second time Dhoni got dismissed in this edition of the IPL, and PBKS did the honour both times. Dhoni came to bat in the 19th over after Harshal Patel bowled Shardul Thakur. Thakur came down the pitch to hit Patel for a glory shot but completely missed the line. Patel delivered a slower off-cutter to Dhoni next, which dipped on the veteran batter, puzzling him before it disturbed the stumps. Fans watched the unfortunate event in horror. It was hard for fans to digest Dhoni getting bowled in the very first ball.
However, CSK ended up scoring 167, losing 9 wickets in 20 overs at the difficult pitch in Dharmshala. Ravindra Jadeja's defensive batting took the score to 150 plus. He scored 43 while captain Ruturaj Gaikwad 32. Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar took three wickets each for PBKs, while Arshdeep Singh took two.
After the first innings, Harshal Patel said that the wicket was on the drier side and that he had too much respect for Dhoni to celebrate when he got Dhoni out.
"In my first over, it was reversing. It's all about the feel of that delivery (slower one). More you bowl the better you get. Most batters don't pick it. Have been practicing in the nets, and when it comes out, it gives you great results," NDTV quoted Harshal Patel.