‘I can only imagine how intimidating it must be’

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not able to take the Chennai Super Kings to victory over the Rajasthan Royals as CSK lost six runs in an Indian Premier League game on Sunday evening in Guwahati. Dhoni had walked out in the 16th over with CSK needing 54 runs for victory off 25 balls. Dhoni hit a six and a four before losing his wicket with 16 runs off 11 balls on the night.
New Zealand cricket legend Kane Willaimson heaped praise on Dhoni’s aura, especially when he walked in to bat for CSK at Guwahati. While the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati was Rajasthan Royals’ home stadium, plenty of fans were spotted wearing the yellow jerseys of Chennai.
Reflecting on the electrifying atmosphere when MS Dhoni walked out to bat, Kane Williamson said on JioStar after the game: “The fact that Chennai Super Kings were playing an away match, yet the entire crowd was dressed in yellow, was just incredible. We’ve seen this so many times before. I felt like it was written in the stars for MS to come in and smash 20 runs in an over to finish things off—he’s done it so often. But it was a tough ask, needing 40 off the last two overs. Still, it was special to see him walk out. I can only imagine how intimidating it must be for any opposition trying to defend a total when he’s at the crease.”
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Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin had also spoken about the spectacle of Dhoni walking out to bat in their first IPL 2025 game against the Mumbai Indians.
“When MS Dhoni came out to bat in Chennai, there was so much noise and chaos that we forgot the situation of the game only. MS Dhoni has earned the love. It was for the first time I was seeing that reception from the CSK dressing room; I always saw it from the outside,” Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.
“I was padded up, I was the next batter. I went inside and asked Ruturaj how the wicket and all that because we still needed 4 runs, but everyone forgot that a match was on the line,” Ashwin said before calling the situation “absolute cinema”.