CSK’s Shardul Thakur and KKR’s Deepak Chahar exchanged jerseys after the IPL match between the two teams on May 15th at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Shardul had played for CSK from 2018-2021 before joining KKR. He had picked up 55 wickets for the MS Dhoni-led team in 48 matches.
Teammates reunite
Deepak Chahar wore Shardul Thakur's Kolkata Knight Riders jersey, while Shardul donned Chahar's Chennai Super Kings outfit. Posting a video on his Instagram handle, CSK wrote, "Cherry x Dhool. Just like old times. #CSKvKKR #WhistlePodu #Yellove.
The two pacers can be observed shaking hands and swapping jerseys. Shardul expressed his pleasure in returning to the CSK jersey by stating, "it is good to be back in CSK jersey." The video also captures Shardul telling Deepak that the jersey was supposed to be taken off straight.
Is Dhoni retirement on the beckoning?
CSK, led by Dhoni, batted first after winning the toss, but could only score 144/6. Shivam Dube remained unbeaten on 48 off 34 balls. KKR spinners Narine and Chakravarthy took two wickets each. While chasing the target of 145, KKR faced early hiccups, but Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana made 54 and unbeaten 57 respectively, leading KKR to victory in 18.3 overs.
After the match, CSK players did a special lap of honour around the Chepauk stadium, with Dhoni leading the way. As the crowd cheered for their favourite player, Sunil Gavaskar approached him for an autograph. Dhoni hit a few balls into the crowd, tossed a few jerseys, and signed autographs for police officers present at the event.
CSK bowlers struggle under dew conditions
Despite the celebrations, the match did not end well for CSK as they lost to KKR by six wickets. Dhoni attributed the loss to the impact of the dew and other conditions.
"The dew made a big difference in the second innings. We can't really blame any of our bowlers. Just that the conditions had a big impact on the game," Dhoni, who waved to the crowd, said at the post-match presentation.
"When we bowled the first ball in the second innings, we knew we needed 180. But there was no way we could have got 180 on that pitch." Batting first after winning the toss, CSK could only make 144 for six. Shivam Dube top-scored with an unbeaten 48 off 34 balls at the Chepauk, while there were two wickets apiece for KKR spinners Sunil Narine (2/15) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/36).
