May 20 (Punjab Khabarnama) : A post-match scene from the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings on Saturday eventually became the cynosure as MS Dhoni was kept waiting for a handshake by the home team after their thrilling win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium before he walked off the ground and went inside the dressing room. Virat Kohli was the only RCB team member who later followed a distraught Dhoni. But there was another RCB legend that followed Kohli’s act.
Dhoni was left crestfallen after his dismissal in the final over, with Chennai requiring 11 runs to make the playoffs. After smashing a monstrous 110-metre six over fine-leg, Dhoni was deceived by a slower one from Yash Dayal. His expression in the dugout after the dismissal hinted that he knew CSK’s loss was inevitable. Dayal held his nerves to concede just one more run in the remaining four deliveries as CSK lost by 27 runs to finishing fifth in the points table.
After the match, Dhoni, showing his true sportsmanship, gathered strength to pick himself up, walk over the boundary ropes and make an attempt to congratulate the RCB players on their win. However, with the home team caught up in their wild celebration, Dhoni’s gesture went unnoticed. He then shook hands with the RCB support staff members, a sign of respect, before disappearing into the CSK dressing room.
Kohli was later seen searching for Dhoni and eventually went into the CSK dressing room to meet him. But there was another Bengaluru legend that pulled off a similar act. Former RCB member and West Indies great Chris Gayle, who was present at the Chinnaswamy to watch the thrilling match, caught up with Dhoni and his ex-teammate Dwayne Bravo. He even managed to get a CSK jersey for himself which was spotted in the video shared by RCB on their social media handle.
Gayle later took to Instagram to share images of his meeting with Dhoni and Bravo and captioned it: “Was great to catch up with the 2 Champions absolutely love and respect.”
With the win, RCB assured themselves of a fourth-place finish at the end of the IPL 2024 league stage, implying that they would next face Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.