Dhoni smashes own record as IPL 2023 viewership reaches new high

That there will be the loudest cheer when MS Dhoni walks to bat at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was on the expected lines. Even then one needed a minute or two to let the noise sink in when it actually happened. Dhoni, with his customary fast-paced walk, made his way into the centre after the fall of Ravindra Jadeja's wicket in the last over of CSK's innings against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday. 

The jam-packed crowd knew no limits. They screamed their lungs out, and raised their voice to unimaginable levels, giving rise to a collective expression of ecstasy and devotion that is rare, to say the least. They had waited for 1426 days - Dhoni had played his last IPL match in Chennai way back in May 2019 - to watch their 'Thala' in action.

Dhoni, as the colossal entertainer that he is, did not disappoint. Facing perhaps this IPL's fastest bowler, Mark Wood, who barely two nights ago destroyed Delhi Capitals with his sheer pace and movement, Dhoni sliced his first delivery - bowled at 148.7 km/h - over third man for a six. If one thought, the decibel levels could not go up further, they were woefully wrong.

Coupled with the pressure of bowling to Dhoni in the last over and the deafening noise, Wood seemed a tad nervous. He ran in, knowing very well, what the crowd and Dhoni wanted and banged it halfway into the pitch. Even the best can buckle under pressure. A short delivery, no matter how quick, is the last option one should keep while bowling to Dhoni in the death overs. Wood, quite expectedly, got the treatment. Dhoni fetched the climbing delivery from outside the off stump and pulled it. The ball disappeared into the night sky dotted with mobile torches and landed deep into the stands. The distance was measured at 89 metres. The noise it created, however, was impossible to measure.

The Dhoni magic was not limited to Chepauk. How could it be? The Dhoni devotion knows no boundaries. The viewership on Jio Cinema - IPL's digital broadcasters - touched 1.7 crore - the highest so far in IPL 2023. Dhoni broke his own record. The previous record was 1.6 crore. Guess what? It was Dhoni at the crease at that time too, against the Gujarat Titans in the tournament opener.

In trying to achieve a hat-trick of sixes, Dhoni was out caught at deep point. The stadium, from being the noisiest part of the country, turned silent for a moment before rising to hail Dhoni's short but hugely impactful innings of three balls that took CSK to 217/7 in 20 overs.

One shouldn't be judged for claiming that, in the end, those two sixes from Dhoni proved to be the difference. As astonishing as it may sound, LSG fell 12 short of CSK's target. The yellow brigade and their ringmaster's homecoming in nearly four years was a sweet one, or shall we say, a noisy one. But who is complaining? Let there be more Dhoni sixes, let there be more noise, let the viewership rise further, cause who knows what the man with The Midas Touch can achieve.