Suryakumar Yadav congratulated MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube for helping CSK return to winning ways against LSG in IPL 2025 after five back-to-back losses.
Suryakumar Yadav is the perfect example of a true-blue Indian cricketer. For him, the franchise doesn’t matter. If a promising upcoming Indian cricketer or an established name of Team India does well, chances are high he will find a mention in Suryakumar Yadav’s social media handle. After congratulating his 17-year-old young Mumbai teammate Ayush Mhatre for making it to the Chennai Super Kings squad as a replacement for their regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad – who was out with a fractured elbow -, Surya put out a story on his Instagram handle for CSK captain MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube that went viral instantly.
The India T20I captain congratulated Dhoni and Dube for helping CSK return to winning ways in IPL 2025 after five back-to-back losses. The Insta story, however, was anything but a usual well-done post. It had Surya’s quirky touch written all over it.
The Mumbai Indians batter used a dialogue from MS Dhoni’s biopic, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, starring Sushant Singh Rajput, to narrate the match situation. In the movie, the sequence took place during an inter-school tournament when Dhoni was batting in the middle during a run chase.
Surya replaced the characters with the real-life Dhoni and Shivam Dube. “Mahi bhai- Strike dega toh tum bana lega? Dube – Try kar lenge. Mahi bhai – Try karna hai toh hum hi kar lete hai. Tum bas runout mat karwa dena. (Dhoni – Will win the match if I give you the strike? Dube – I will try. Dhoni – I can also try then. You just don’t get me run out),” read Surya’s Instagram story with photos of Dhoni and Dube.
Just like in the movie, Dhoni did not disappoint in real life. He took matters into his own hands to break CSK’s losing streak. Dhoni and Dube stitched an unbroken 57-run partnership off just 27 balls to help CSK chase down 167 against the Lucknow Super Giants with five wickets in hand. It was CSK’s second win in the 18th season of IPL in seven matches and the first one since Dhoni’s return to captaincy after Ruturaj’s injury.
Dhoni came out to bat at No.7 when CSK needed 56 runs off 30 balls. The 43-year-old legendary cricketer hit the straps immediately, hitting Avesh Khan for successive boundaries in the last two balls of the 16th over. In the next over, Dube hit Shardul Thakur for a four, and Dhoni finished the over with a six.
Avesh bowled a very good 18th over to bring LSG back into the game, but Dhoni and Dube took full advantage of Thakur’s lacklustre 19th over to give CSK the ascendancy.
Dhoni was given Player of the Match – his first in the IPL in six years – for his 26 off 11 balls, including four fours and a six. Dube was CSK’s top-scorer with 43 off 37 balls.
Earlier, the CSK bowlers led by Anshul Kamboj (1/20), Ravindra Jadeja (2/24) and Noor Ahmed (0/13) restricted LSG to a below-par 166 for 7 in their 20 overs.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
