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MS Dhoni is yet to bat in IPL 2024, but he still has Chepauk and the world of cricket on their feet. How? By taking one of the most athletic catches you’ll ever see by a 42-year-old. During Chennai Super Kings‘ IPL fixture against Gujarat Titans in Chennai, Dhoni leapt 2.7 meters to his right to pluck a stunning one-handed diving catch to dismiss Vijay Shankar. It’s been almost a good 24 hours since that spectacular take by Dhoni but certain former cricketers are yet to get over it.
Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel, shared a few insights on the work MSD puts in his wicketkeeping and said the catch was a throwback to the good old days when a young Dhoni would throw himself around and take such screamers more often. When Dhoni made his keeping skills weren’t the sharpest, but after putting in the hard yards like only MSD could, his glovework became crisp, spotless and came of age.
“I have never seen him practice wicket keeping. The one important thing we can see here is the distance that he covered. A lot of wicketkeepers have an initial movement where they usually go towards the leg side, but MS Dhoni consistently dives in the same direction and can cover two meters of distance. It looked like we were watching a 22-year-old Dhoni again,” Parthiv, the former India keeper, said on Jio Cinema’s Match Centre Live.
“You have to praise him. A lot of young wicketkeepers should learn this technical point. When you use one leg to move to the leg side, you can’t cover the distance on the off-side. Dhoni’s anticipation is always correct, which allows him to cover the distance well, and very few times do we see that he needs to dive for the ball, because his anticipation is so good, and he covers the distance.”
‘I swear Dhoni is not finished,’ says Abhinav Mukund
Abhinav Mukund is another former India cricketer who couldn’t keep calm seeing Dhoni jump like a ‘lion’. While nothing is confirmed yet, IPL 2024 is likely Dhoni’s swansong, more so with the whole captaincy switch and all, but going by the way MSD is right up there as far as fitness and taking such catches are concerned, Mukund, who made his debut under Dhoni, has a feeling this is not it.
“The Chepauk crowd on its feet. A flying tiger, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. A 42-year-old man leaping like a lion to take a brilliant catch, MS Dhoni! Mitchell has taken the breakthrough; Vijay Shankar is out now. MSD ka Hukum. I swear he isn’t finished yet. This is MS Dhoni, don’t mess with him. What a diving catch! They just got in Daryl Mitchell, and it was a slight edge and a wonderful catch,” he said while doing commentary as Dhoni pulled off the catch in less than 1 second – 0.6 to be precise.
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