MS Dhoni’s vintage stunt ends Gill barrage in CSK vs GT IPL final, Gavaskar’s ‘nano-second’ remark takes the cake
Given the kind of form Shubman Gill was in during IPL 2023, it needed a special effort to stop him, and that magical piece of work came from none other than MS Dhoni, whose lightning-quick stumping saw the GT opener’s campaign ending at a mind-blowing 890 runs – the second-highest of all time behind the record-breaking Virat Kohli.
CSK messed up their opportunities of dismissing Gill twice – first, a drop catch by Deepak Chahar, and then a missed run-out chance by Ravindra Jadeja. The Orange Cap winner though was not a third time lucky as the CSK skipper rolled back the years and reminded fans just why he is that quick.
Gill was on 1 when Chahar put down a sitter at square leg. As CSK rued their missed opportunity, Gill went on a rampage, smacking Tushar Deshpande for a hat-trick of fours and then another three on the trot off Maheesh Theekshana to race to 37 off 17 balls. Two balls later as Gill scampered through for a single, Jadeja collected the ball but it lobbed out of his hands upon contact with the stumps. Had the ball stayed in, it would have been curtains for Gill.
Jadeja then generated just enough turn to fox Gill. Beaten by the drive, Gill was outside his creased when Dhoni collected the ball and before anyone’s eyes could bling, off came the stumps. Gill wasn’t too confidence about where his feet were, but Dhoni looked like he was never more confident about anything else. With a nod of the head, he signalled his confirmation of Gill’s wicket although the third umpire was referred – albeit only as part of the formality.
Here is the video of Dhoni’s brilliance:
“I tell you what. Dhoni. He is brilliant, isn’t he?” explained Kevin Pietersen on air, before Simon Doull joined it, “Oh that is some wonderful piece of work from the Chennai skipper”. However, it was Sunil Gavaskar’s remark that easily stood out among them all. “Look at that. I mean, all it takes is a nano-second. The ball enters the gloves and whiff… just like that the bails are dislodged. Outstanding,” said the former India captain, clearly in awe of Dhoni.