MS Dhoni’s king-size gesture for Rohit Sharma after MI star’s valiant century can’t prevent defeat to CSK

A famished Rohit Sharma put up a brave fight against the disciplined Chennai Super Kings attack on Sunday night at the Wankhede Stadium, but amid a lack of support from the middle order, the former Mumbai Indians captain watched his century go in vain as the hosts lost by 20 runs in the thrilling IPL 2024 clash.

Rohit smashed an unbeaten 105 off 63 balls against Chennai, his second IPL ton and eighth in his illustrious T20 career. But for the first time in 18 instances, Rohit failed to get his team through despite staying unbeaten in a chase. The heartbroken open was, however, consoled by former Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, who made a king-size gesture after the match ended in favour of the visitors.

Captain Hardik Pandya admitted that 207 was a gettable total for Mumbai Indians given the conditions in Wankhede, where dew sets in during the second innings, allowing batters to flourish with big strikes. The home team previously chased 197 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru with 27 balls to spare, while Wankhede witnessed 439 runs being amassed in the match between MI and Delhi Capitals earlier this month.

On Sunday, Mumbai got off to a promising start, getting 70 off the first seven overs before Matheesha Pathirana struck with his first ball to dismiss Ishan Kishan and then got rid of Suryakumar Yadav for a duck in the same over. Rohit and Tilak revived the innings quickly to put Mumbai at par with the asking rate, but ‘Baby Malinga’, as CSK calls him, struck yet again to remove the latter. Hardik and Tim David too failed to make a difference at the back end.

Rohit continued the lone battle to score his second IPL century, getting to the mark in 61 balls, but the efforts went in vain as MI were restricted to 186 for six in 20 overs.

As soon as the game ended, Dhoni walked up to Rohit, hugged him and patted on his back to lift his spirit. The picture of that moment went instantly viral on social media.

Hardik outlined Pathirana, who finished with 4 for 28, as the difference between the two sides.

“Pathirana was the difference. They were smart with the plans and their approach. They got the hang of it, there’s a man behind the stumps (Dhoni) who tells them what’s working, that helps,” he said after MI incurred their fourth loss in IPL 2024.