New Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is synonymous with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It may read an outlandish claim, but if one looks closely, there he or she will find the perfect reason to believe it.
And here, it is. The former India captain on Sunday will become the first player to play seven IPL finals. And this record will be very very hard to break. It's just mind-blowing fact that, in it's tenth season, the tournament will have one crickter playing his seventh final.
Dhoni, 35, rolled back the years on Tuesday to help Rising Pune Supergiant beat pre-tournament favourites Mumbai Indians by 20 runs in the first Qualifier, and book a place for Sunday's final.
He played an unbeaten knock of 40 runs off 26 balls with five sixes, which demoralized a confident Mumbai side before the change-over.
Relive the knock here:
#MSDhoni's 5 sixes against #MIhttps://t.co/W0Zo5xBZZg
— Cricket-atti (@cricketatti) May 17, 2017
But Dhoni's IPL reputation is associated with the now banned Chennai Super Kings, where he established himself as a living legend. He led the Chennai-based team to IPL finals in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. They won the title in 2010 and 2011.
His CSK team-mate Suresh Raina has appeared in six finals. Other CSK players Albie Morkel, Subramaniam Badrinath and Ravichandran Ashwin also have played in five finals each.
The heavyweights from South India will make a return to IPL next season after serving two years suspension.
