Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni being honoured by the team management after the IPL tie against Rajasthan Royals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 12, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
A day after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pinned Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the packed MA Chidambaram Stadium of Chennai, former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu on Monday hailed the significant contributions of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Indian cricket— and said that temples will be built in the name of the former Indian cricket team captain.
Rayudu recalled the many record-breaking performances of Dhoni and called the latter the 'God of Chennai'.
In the Sunday's IPL face-off, RR set a target of 141 runs after losing five wickets. As Chennai Super Kings started the chase, cricket fans in the stadium cheered for CSK and Dhoni breaching the decibel limit. With 10 balls still left for the inning to complete, CSK wrapped their chase scoring 145 runs after the loss of five wickets.
Referring to the love and admiration fans have for Dhoni, Rayudu was quoted by India Today as saying, “He is the God of Chennai and I am sure, temples of MS Dhoni would be built in the years to come in Chennai."
While Dhoni won the Champions League T20 twice, the former Indian captain has five IPL titles to his name.
Rayudu told Star Sports, “He (Dhoni) is someone who brought India the joy of two World Cups and has brought Chennai joy with a lot of IPL and Champions League titles. He has just been that one guy who shows belief in his players, who has always done it for the team, for the country and for CSK."
With the victory over RR on Sunday, CSK has paved a way for itself to make it to the playoffs. CSK's last league game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium witnessed a massive crowd cheering for 'Thala'. CSK made it to the third spot on the points table after the Sunday win while RR despite the third straight defeat remains on the second spot.
“He is a legend and someone everybody celebrates in the crowd. They might be thinking that this might be his last game in Chennai,” Rayudu added. CSK will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the next TATA IPL match that will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 18.
In the past, fans have built temples in the names of their favourite stars, including Rajinikanth.