Veteran Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday became the second player to appear in 200 games for a single franchise of the Indian Premier League. He achieved the feat after taking the field against Punjab Kings for CSK's second game in the IPL 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
176 of those performances have been for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL while the remaining 26 has been for CSK in the presently-defunct Champions League T20. Suresh Raina stands second on the list with 190 appearances for the franchise followed by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja with 132 appearances. Virat Kohli of Royal Challengers Bangalore was the first to achieve the feat of 200 appearances for a single IPL franchise, having reached the feat in IPL last season. He now has 209 appearances for RCB.
This will also be his 199th game as the captain of the Chennai Super Kings across tournaments.
Overall, Dhoni will be playing his 206th IPL game, 30 of which were for Rising Pune Supergiant, for which he played for two seasons between 2016 and 2017 when CSK was banned for two seasons owing to match-fixing charges.
Winning the toss at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Dhoni opted to bowl with an unchanged playing XI against Punjab Kings.
"We will bowl first. We will get hit off good deliveries but it is important to assess as a bowler. Cricket is a mental game and adaptability is a key factor. Overall it's a mental game than a physical aspect. Looks a bit tacky and a bit more grass. A bit of dew settles down a bit and in the second innings as well, the first few overs are really crucial. We are playing the same team," said Dhoni after winning the toss.
Chennai lost their opener at the same venue against Delhi Capitals earlier this week.
