Sunday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Final match will feature the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) versus the reigning champion Gujarat Titans (GT).
The two heavyweights will face off in the highly anticipated match at the famous Narendra Modi Stadium. In anticipation of what may be the legendary wicketkeeper-batter’s final game, Dhoni fever has already swept through the Ahmedabad city as the crowds wait impatiently for the Men in Yellow to enter the field.
Since the start of the 2008 competition, Dhoni has been linked to the CSK team as the team’s captain and is vying for his fifth IPL championship.
Richard Madley, a former IPL auctioneer, remembered the first-ever auction of the league when he sold Dhoni to CSK ahead of the season’s finale on Sunday.
Dhoni was signed by the Chennai-based team for INR 6 crore, making him the most expensive player of the inaugural season after a heated bidding battle between Mumbai Indians and CSK.
On Sunday, Madley posted a picture of a note that Dhoni had signed and was addressed to his son Harry. The seasoned auctioneer cited selling the legendary cricketer to CSK as one of his career-high points.
A professional high point was selling Dhoni in the first IPL auction, and getting to know him. Good luck today CSK WhistlePodu Yellove! He signed this for my son @harrymadley6,” Madley tweeted.
Just found my one and only auction sheet for the historic first ever #VIVOIPL auction in 2008.@msdhoni sold to @ChennaiIPL A rare piece of cricket memorabilia
Will be watching #CSKvMI on @hotstarUK #CricketMeriJaan #WhistlePodu #VIVOIPLFinal pic.twitter.com/5M5qY2tPy5— Richard Madley (@iplauctioneer) May 12, 2019
Dhoni will make his 250th IPL appearance in the league during the championship game against GT, which is a record for any player. In addition, this is his 10th final as CSK captain and 11th final overall.
Dhoni has scored 5,082 runs in 217 innings across 249 games, averaging 39.09 and striking out at a 135.96 percent rate. He is the seventh-highest run scorer in the IPL and has scored 24 half-centuries. With 4508 runs in 190 innings, he has played 219 games for CSK.
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