Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Mitchell Starc was blown away by the craze of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) wicketkeeper-batter Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as the 42-year-old is one of the most popular players in India.
Dhoni led India to all three ICC trophies — T20, 50-over World Cup and Champions Trophy — and he guided CSK to record five IPL triumphs, which is why he is loved dearly by almost everyone in India.
Despite not getting the opportunity to bat for a longer period in the IPL 2024, the 42-year-old has managed to deliver for his fans as he scored 28 off just 9 in CSK’s most recent match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), which they lost.
During the match against KKR and CSK on April 8, the latter were chasing the 138-run target and Dhoni came to bat while just three were required in 19 balls. He only faced three balls but the crowd sure went crazy just as soon as they saw him walking out with the bat.
Starc has played against the likes of Virat Kohli, Dhoni and others in the IPL 2024 and he was asked which player has got the bigger reception to which he replied he has never seen anything as the way the 42-year-old was welcomed by the crowd.
“It’s been interesting, I haven’t watched every game but certainly seen a few Chennai games on the TV and the amount of yellow in the crowd whether they are home or away has been next level. We played Chennai in Chennai, I am not sure I’ve ever heard anything like that when he [Dhoni] came out to bat,” Starc said while talking to the LiSTNR SPORT YouTube channel.
“That stadium only holds about 30,000 people and the noise was…we are all on the field and it was actually nothing I’ve ever heard of on a sporting field playing or watching.”
Starc then added that a hundred thousand people in the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will not stand a chance against Chennai when Dhoni comes out to bat.
“A hundred thousand people at MCG doesn’t stand a chance against 35 thousand at Chennai when Dhoni comes to bat – it’s ridiculous,” he added.
