The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stand-in skipper, MS Dhoni turned back the clock in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, producing a late blitz to fire the team to its second victory of the season. Dhoni’s bat breathed fire, scoring 26 runs off just 11 balls as CSK chased down the target of 167 runs in a last-over thriller. Courtesy of his fireworks at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Dhoni was named the Player of the Match. Though the ‘Thala’ didn’t quite agree with the decision of the organisers, the award helped him shatter an all-time record in IPL history.
Thanks to the POTM honour, Dhoni has become the oldest player in the T20 league’s history to be given the award, at the age of 43 years and 280 days. He broke an 11-year-old record in the process, surpassing Pravin Tambe to take the No. 1 spot. Dhoni, hence, became the first player in the league’s history to be named the Player of the Match at the age of 43.
MS DHONI BECOMES THE OLDEST PLAYER IN IPL HISTORY TO WIN THE POTM AWARD – 43. pic.twitter.com/MHV1Y2TMEN
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 14, 2025
Tambe held the numero uno spot until Monday, having won the Player of the Match award in IPL 2014 against KKR at an age of 42 years and 208 days. He set the record while playing for the Rajasthan Royals.
Dhoni, reflecting on the team’s win, said that he expects his batting unit to perform better in the coming games if CSK are to come out of the rut they are in at present.
“As a bowling unit we’ve done well. As a batting unit, we can do better. Roles and responsibilities – that’s what we talk about. If you get off to a good start, and you’re someone who can play through the innings, then why not. I think he batted really well today. He has been with us for quite a few years (Shaik Rasheed). This year he has been batting really well in the nets against both pacers and spinners. It’s just the start. He has the capability to dominate with authentic shots,” he said.
On the Player of the Match honour, Dhoni said that Afghan spinner Noor Ahmed deserved the title instead of him. “Even today I was like – “why are they giving me the award?” Noor bowled really well,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Topics mentioned in this article
