MS Dhoni last played in the IPL in 2022. He has been out of the game for nearly a year, having announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020. Nonetheless, he looked superb in two cameo appearances for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing IPL 2023. On Monday, Dhoni hit back-to-back sixes in the two balls he faced before being dismissed, completing a huge milestone. However, while waiting for Dhoni’s reaction, India batting legend Virender Sehwag made an eye-opening remark about the record.
Dhoni completed 5000 runs in his IPL career with two sixes in CSK’s homecoming game against Lucknow Super Giants. He became the seventh batter in IPL history to reach the milestone, the fifth from India, and the first wicketkeeper-batter to do so.
After the match, in which CSK finally opened their account in IPL 2023 with a win, Sehwag was asked about Dhoni’s achievement, and he opined that the CSK captain, like him, would have cared less about the milestone and more about the win. However, he added that contrary to popular belief, fans do remember these millstones when players retire.
What made Dhoni’s achievement even more remarkable was that he was never a top-order batter, with whom it is always easier to lead in run-tally charts. Dhoni was always a batsman in the middle or lower-middle order. As a result, Sehwag believes that this milestone is unlikely to be attained in the IPL by a player who bats in Dhoni’s position.
“The top-order batters are expected to score the most runs.” MS Dhoni bats in the middle or lower-middle order and has 5000 runs to his name. No player could possibly score that many runs while playing in that position. He is dependable, scores run and help his team win games. “He’s a big deal,” he said.
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