MS Dhoni's Reign Leads Chennai Super Kings to IPL 2023 Victory
The two demigods of India were metaphorically joined in victory as the Chennai Super Kings beat the Gujarat Titans via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DWS) method at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday evening local time.
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and MS Dhoni, the fictional ruler of the IPL, India, and beyond!
The third member of the elected triumvirate—and the least well-received (DWS)—came into play as inclement weather precipitated a premature end to a crazy IPL 2023 final.
We will get back to Prime Minister Modi and King Dhoni a little later.
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A short dispatch from inclement Ahmedabad would rightly focus only on the last over. So, with that in mind, we will:
As a bowler, this must be one lonely place—that’s why my preference was batting. It’s similar to being the ninth-inning reliever in baseball or the final penalty-taker in a shootout (Robert Baggio [Italy]—the 1994 World Cup Final comes to mind).
Gujarat’s Mohit Sharma assumed the final over responsibility—this, after his senior colleague—and a SpeakingNick favourite son—Mohammad Shami—took the previous over, conceding just eight, so allowing Mohit the opportunity to close out the game for a Gujarat quinella.
The over started with 13 required. The innings run rate was hovering at around 11, so with two set batters, the odds were against Mohit. Chennai was banking on Shivam Dube and Ravi Jadeja; my mother’s money would have been on Chennai and not Mohit.
Mohit hit his off stump yorker ball one; Dube can only return it to the bowler, no run. A second yorker yields just a single; the pendulum is swinging, and my mother has the rolling pin ready!
Ball three is another yorker. Missed on the full side, Jadeja skews a single and a missed opportunity. Halfway, and the over’s given up just two, advantage Mohit. And—for me—I’m reciting the Lord's Prayer after tipping Chennai to Mrs. Speak!
Ahead and behind in overs is relatively new ‘cricket speakology"—at this point, clearly, Mohit was ahead. But he and Captain Pandya still had decisions to make. Mohit stayed with his yorker; Dube was not prepared to gamble on a ramp; a low full toss skew again went down the ground for a single. Gujarat and Mohit moved further ahead.
With Jadeja on strike, Chennai needed 10 to win; realistically, ball five had to clear the ropes. Mohit, now in auto-pilot, stayed with the yorker; this time he missed it—fractionally—short, allowing Jadeja to sneak under the bounce, and with an orthodox swing, he sent the ball over the sight-screen. Chennai was alive, just. It would be Jadeja and Mohit to determine the 2023 IPL champion. Jadeja, the goalkeeper, and Mohit, the penalty taker!
With no variations in the previous five balls, Mohit was highly unlikely to bowl anything different. In baseball, it would be a high, fast ball all the way.
In Ahmedabad, on a sweaty Monday evening, it would be another yorker, on pace and into the body. Jadeja would have known this. King Dhoni knew exactly what was coming; even Prime Minister Modi might have had an inkling. When all was said and done, a perfectly pitched yorker at the leg stump would have been enough. Sadly, for Gujarat and Mohit, ball six missed its mark.
A shin-high full toss, outside Jadeja’s leg stump, disappeared to the fine leg boundary courtesy of a traditional leg glance. Yes, a leg glance! King Dhoni and his Chennai crew had won IPL 2023 at the buzzer.
Australia’s pre-eminent cricket writer, Gideon Haigh, would have been suitably reassured that an old-fashioned leg glance iced the game for Chennai—a stroke vastly underrated in modern T20 cricket but cherished by Haigh.
Mohit didn’t lose this; more so, Jadeja won it, a consummate cricketer who held his nerve longer. Ball four was a timely single for Chennai, and Mrs. Speak is smiling!
Lancashire took Ian Austin for granted. Bowling at the death is bloody hard.
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It proved difficult to cram six balls into a short dispatch! Anyway, back to Messers. Modi and Dhoni.
You might assume Prime Minister Modi would have cleared his calendar for the scheduled game on Sunday; however, as we know, rain prevented the game from going ahead, resulting in the Monday reschedule, which unfortunately clashed with the Prime Minister’s weekly beard-grooming session. There were also no motorcades on hand for the usual lap of honour—and perhaps no Anthony Albanese either!
Actually, I have no idea if Prime Minister Modi was in attendance Monday evening. As for Albo, who knows?
And for King Dhoni, he was well and truly in the house; his deft stumping of Shubman Gill was a game highlight. Remember, Gill was in rare form and was looking ominous at 39 from (20), when Jadeja spun one past the outside edge into Dhoni’s surgeon-like hands. The bails were off, and so was Gill. It looked like a benefit match dismissal; MS Dhoni has flat-lined his whole career, an amazing gift that he has used to great effect.
Maintaining a thought-provoking bent.
Of the international players selected in Ahmedabad, there were: two Afghanistan’s , two Sri Lankans, a New Zealander, a South African, an Englishman, and yes, you’ve read correctly, an Irishman—Josh Little!
Tomorrow, we will try and locate the Australian’s, and do some report card marking.
As always, thank you for being here.
Superb stuff Nick. A very enjoyable read again. I cannot wait for you to get your teeth into the Test Match Champions Trophy and the Ashes.