IPL 2023 | You need to be a proper devil to hate MSD: Hardik Pandya
The Hindu
Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya said that one needs to be a “proper devil” to harbour grudges against the talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is probably playing his last IPL season.
Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya said that one needs to be a "proper devil" to harbour grudges against the talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is probably playing his last IPL season.
As the Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans line up to play Qualifier 1 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday, Pandya also debunked the myth that Dhoni, one of the most successful India captains, was a serious person.
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"I'll always be a Mahendra Singh Dhoni fan and for so many fans out there and so many cricket lovers. You need to be a proper devil to hate Mahendra Singh Dhoni," said Pandya in a video posted by Gujarat Titans on social media.
The turnaround Dhoni has effected from last season has once again brought the spotlight on him as CSK aim to bag their fifth IPL title after finishing second-last in 2022.
While last year the captaincy conundrum took a toll on the side, CSK have been in sublime form with the likes of Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane coming together to once again give the team the look of a title-winning unit.
Pandya said he had learnt a lot of cricketing nuances from Dhoni, not by picking his brains but simply by watching him in action.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.