Mahendra Singh Dhoni was at his nonchalant best when he revealed he was not aware that it was his 200th match as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when the Yellow Army took on Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Dhoni, who almost pulled off a miraculous win for CSK, insisted that milestones don't matter to him. Chasing 176, the former Indian skipper played a brilliant knock of 32 off 17 deliveries but still fell short by three runs.
However, to commemorate his 200th game as CSK captain, he was felicitated by the franchise with a special memento before the game. But it seems that it would mean little to Dhoni as he claimed that he is not concerned with personal milestones.
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What did Dhoni say about his 200th match as Chennai Super Kings skipper?
I am not big on milestones. How does it matter if it is 199 or 200. It is a compliment to play 200 games. Thanks to almighty. But as I said nothing special. I really didn't know it was my 200th (game as CSK skipper) and milestones don't really matter for me, it is about how you're performing and the results.
The skipper expressed his discontent with his batsmen as he thought CSK could have rotated the strike more in the middle overs so that the pressure did not pile up in the end.
"There was not a lot in it for spinners, but in the middle period, there were too many dot balls. If the surface is stopping and turning, then it is fine. But that was not the case here. We were the last batting pair, early in the tournament, you can't go hard, keeping the NRR in mind as there were too many overs to go. We kept it slightly late in the middle overs. We could have taken more singles. And we couldn't go hard immediately," he stated.
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When will Chennai Super Kings play next?
After this disappointing defeat, CSK will travel to Bengaluru to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
