Another day, another record: MS Dhoni becomes the only cricketer to play nine IPL finals
In his long and illustrious career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has breached another milestone as the Chennai Super Kings skipper on Sunday became the only cricketer to play nine Indian Premier League finals. Dhoni has played nine in 12 seasons, making him one of the most decorated cricketers in the Indian T20 league.
Not just that, Dhoni also became the most successful wicket-keeper in the history of IPL on Sunday after he was involved in the dismissals of both Mumbai openers.
Dhoni, who took two catches in the IPL final against Mumbai Indians, has now taken 94 catches and 38 stumpings.
Dinesh Karthik has 131 dismissals to his credit while Robin Uthappa has 90 scalps behind the stumps.
Dhoni reached the milestone with a diving catch off Deepak Chahar to dismiss his opposite number Rohit Sharma. Before that he took a dolly off Shardul Thakur's bowling to remove Quinton de Kock.
Taking on arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in a hunt for a record fourth league title, the MS Dhoni-led CSK went unchanged into the IPL 2019 final clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. Both Chennai and Mumbai have won the title thrice. CSK have won titles in consecutive years (2010, 2011 and 2018) while MI have won it in alternate years (2013, 2015, 2017).
Dhoni was bought by Chennai in 2008 and he led the team to three IPL and two Champions League T20 titles. The former India captain is also one of the most successful skippers in international cricket. Under his leadership, the Indian cricket team has won the 2007 World T20, 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians made one change to their playing XI as Mitchell McClenaghan came in for Jayant Yadav.
In their head-to-head IPL final record, the two teams have faced each other three times in the summit clash. MI have two wins to their name.
