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SPORTS                                                                  APRIL 05, 2024     |  The Indian Eye 46



                                                                IPL 2024



            Dhoni’s continuing charisma,





        Parag’s magic and the mystery





                      of missing Parthiv Shaw







             The Baroda-born cricketer is set to captain Mumbai Indians (MI), replacing their five-time Indian

         Premier League (IPL) trophy-winning skipper Rohit Sharma in the 2024 season of the cash-rich league




        OUR BUREAU
        Chennai/Mumbai/Hyderabad

              ustralian batter Steve Smith
              on Thursday showered praise
        Aon former Chennai Super
        Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni say-
        ing there’s no one in India who is bet-
        ter than the 42-year-old. Speaking on
        Star Sports, Smith said no one read
        a cricket match like MS Dhoni. The
        Aussie batter added that it was ‘tre-
        mendous’ to share field with the for-
        mer India skipper.
            “There’s no one better in India
        to have behind the stumps than MS
        Dhoni. The way he understands the
        game and the angles of the game is
        second to none. So look, he was a tre-
        mendous person to play with. I really
        enjoyed his company on and off the
        field,” Smith said.
            Smith also called Dhoni a
        ‘chilled’ guy. The Aussie revealed
        that the 42-year-old helped him a lot
        with cricket.
            “He’s  such  a  chilled  guy,  ob-
        viously extremely busy with loads
        of  things  outside  the  game,  but  ex-
        tremely chilled down to earth and a
        wonderful person. There were many
        occasions  where  MS  was  fantastic.
        You  know,  I  really  enjoyed  playing
        with him.  I enjoyed  leading him as
        well. He certainly helped me out,” he
        added.
            Ahead of the season opener of    Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni tries to run out Gujarat Titans’ David Miller in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, at MA Chidambaram
        IPL 2024 against Royal Challengers                                     Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday (ANI)
        Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk Sta-
        dium,  the  Chennai-based  franchise   The announcement marked the      CSK had a great start to the IPL   ers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat
        announced that Ruturaj Gaikwad    end of Dhoni’s long reign at the helm   2024  season  as  they  clinched  two   Titans (GT).
        would take over the responsibilities   of CSK, during which he led Chennai   consecutive wins in their opening   The Chennai-based franchise
        from the 42-year-old.             to five IPL crowns.               games after beating Royal Challeng-      Continued on next page... >>


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