Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle believes MS Dhoni may not feature in IPL 2024 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after resigning as captain ahead of Friday’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) All games. CSK started their title defense in style at the Chepauk Stadium by beating RCB by six wickets in the IPL 2024 opener. Dhoni played under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad but did not get a chance to bat. After CSK’s win over RCB, Gayle said Dhoni might take a break between games but backed the veteran to do well in the tournament.

Speaking to Jio Cinema, Gayle said: “He (MS Dhoni) may not play all the games. There may be a little break in between. That’s why the decision was taken. But MSD will go well, no need to worry.”

Dhoni looked sharp behind the stumps, affecting runs on the last ball of RCB’s innings.

But he didn’t get a chance to bat and CSK chased 174 with 8 balls to spare.

Looking back at the match, RCB opted to bat and despite a good start from captain Faf (35 off 23 balls, including 8 fours), the team was reduced to 78/5 at one point. Virat Kohli had a disappointing performance with the bat as he scored 21 runs with 6 runs off 20 balls. Anuj Rawat (48 off 25 balls with 4 boundaries and 3 sixes) and Dinesh Karthik (38* in 26 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes). Mustafizur (4/29) is the bowler for CSK. RCB scored 173/6 in 20 overs.

At 174 runs, Rachin Ravindra (37 off 15 balls, including 3 fours and 3 sixes) got CSK off to a brisk start. RCB managed to take some quick and crucial wickets but Shivam Dube (34* off 28 balls with 4 boundaries and 6 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (25* in 17 balls with 6 balls) Leading the defending champions to a six-wicket win with eight balls to spare.

Gaikwad said his team was in complete control from the start and believed they played very well in the end.

“I would say, total control from the beginning, except for 2-3 rounds. Would have liked to run 10-15 points less, but I thought they played really well in the final period. I think that was a big turning point Maxwell and Faf were out. We got three wickets quickly which helped us control the rest of the overs and that was the real turning point,” Gaikwad said after his first win as CSK captain .

(with ANI input)