IPL 2023: BCCI Vice-president Rajeev Shukla Felicitates MS Dhoni with Special Award in Lucknow - WATCH

Whichever stadium MS Dhoni has been to in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, the crowd has welcomed him with all hearts. All the away venues of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have had a full house on match days. And when they arrived in Lucknow for the match no. 45, a reception was expected at the Ekana Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The weather conditions didn’t look favourable for the game as it has been raining for the last few days in different parts of north India, including Lucknow. Still, the fans arrived in large numbers to see their favourite cricketer on the field, perhaps for one last time in Lucknow.

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Before the start of play, Dhoni was felicitated by BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla at the Ekana Stadium. The CSK captain was presented with a special award, welcoming the former Indian captain at the venue.

“Mr. Rajeev Shukla, Vice President of the BCCI felicitates @msdhoni with a special award at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow,” the caption of the video, shared by IPL, read.

During the toss, Dhoni sent social media into a frenzy with a cryptic response when he was asked about his future in the IPL. Commentator Danny Morrison cleverly posed the query to CSK skipper on how he’s enjoying the massive support at every venue in his last season.

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“Clearly, This wonderful swansong tour, your last. How are you enjoying it?” asked Morrison.

“You’ve decided it is my last,” a smiling Dhoni replied.

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But to everyone’s disappointment, the game was called off due to rain. After winning the toss, CSK opted to bowl first and kept LSG batters at bay with the scintillating bowling efforts before Ayush Badoni’s unbeaten 59 off 22 injected momentum in the slog overs as Lucknow scored 125/7 in 19.2 overs.

Putting into bat first, LSG had a dismal start as CSK spinners ripped through Lucknow’s top order and the hosts mustered 31 runs in the Powerplay for the loss of three wickets.

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