MS Dhoni celebrates return of Chennai Super Kings in his own unique way

Screen Grab (Instagram – mahi7781)

New Delhi: It seemed to be a rather good Friday for the cricketing fans as two Indian Premier League franchises Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) marked a return back to the cash-rich league after being out of action for almost two years owing to suspension ban. Fans, all around India took to social media sites to express their delight at the news, but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni did it in his own style.

Dhoni took to his official Instagram account to post a picture of him donning his customary No.7 CSK jersey, although his name wasn't inked on it. It was instead written "Thala", a Tamil word for leader.

A post shared by @mahi7781 on Jul 14, 2017 at 9:24pm PDT

The Chennai-based franchise has been the most successful team in the cash-rich league since its inception. They were the runners-up in the inaugural season and then went on to grab the trophy in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011, under the captaincy of Dhoni. They have in fact been quite regular with their appearance in the finals, having been runner-up on three other occasions (2012, 2013 and 2015). They had even inscribed their name on the Champions League T20 in 2010 and then in 2014.

Lions, start the whistles... Guess who's back! #whistlepodu #CSKReturns pic.twitter.com/5eVUZSEBKa

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) July 15, 2017

In 2015, the team was banned for two years from participating in IPL Justice RM Lodha Committee announced their decision after ample investigations into the IPL 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.

Finally on Friday, the two franchises were welcomed with open arms by BCCI to participate in IPL 2018.