Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy, bounced back in style on Sunday to beat Delhi Capitals by an emphatic margin on 91 runs at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai to keep their playoff hopes alive. Devon Conway’s sensational knock of 87 runs helped Chennai finish with their fourth 200-plus total in the ongoing IPL 2022 before the bowlers folded Delhi for just 117 runs in 17.4 overs.
During the match a moment from the Chennai dugout went viral on social media. Chennai skipper Dhoni was spotted “eating” his bat, albeit he was previously seen doing so many a times in cricket and similar picture had gone viral back during the 2019 World Cup as well.
However, senior India spinner Amit Mishra revealed that real reason behind Dhoni’s action and the viral picture.
“In case you’re wondering why Dhoni often ‘eats’ his bat. He does that to remove tape of the bat as he likes his bat to be clean. You won’t see a single piece of tape or thread coming out of MS’s bat. #CSKvDC #TATAIPL2022,” Mishra tweeted.
With the 91-run win, CSK did not just strengthen their net run rate, but climbed over Kolkata Knight Riders in the points table to take the eighth spot and subsequently kept themselves alive in the race to the playoffs. Although, much of their chances depend on other factors besides CSK aiming to win their next two games.
“Even in school I wasn’t good at it. Thinking of the NRR doesn’t help. You just want to enjoy the IPL. When two other teams are playing, you don’t want to be under pressure and thinking. You just have to think about what to do in the next game. If we make the playoffs, great. But even if we don’t it’s not the end of the world,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation when asked about CSK’s playoff qualification chances.