Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni had a horrible start to the IPL 2021 campaign as he got out for a duck against Delhi Capitals as his side lost the match by 7 wickets. However, CSK bounced back in the next game as they thrashed Punjab Kings by 6 wickets on April 16.


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Now, the three-time IPL winners will take on Rajasthan Royals on (Monday) April 19, and incidentally, it will be Dhoni’s 200th match as CSK skipper. Although he appeared in 176 games in IPL and 24 games in the now-defunct Champions League T20 for CSK, Dhoni only led in 199 of those games with Suresh Raina being the captain in one of those CLT20 games.


Interestingly most of the fans believe that MS Dhoni will celebrate the feat with a win over RR on Friday.


As per the poll conducted by Zee News on Twitter, 80.1 % of people believe that CSK will beat RR, while 19.9% of people think that Rajasthan Royals will win the game.



Meanwhile, the threat of at least a two-game ban from the Indian Premier League (IPL) is still looming large over the former India captain. Dhoni was docked Rs 12 lakh as match fees for maintaining a slow bowling over-rate in CSK’s opening game of IPL 2021 against Delhi Capitals.


Dhoni made up for that mistake against the Punjab Kings, as CSK managed to bowl their quota of overs in just 88 minutes instead of BCCI mandated 90 minutes for the completion of an innings. However, BCCI and IPL rules also state that Dhoni can be banned for two to four games if CSK repeated the mistake within two games since the fine. This means that Dhoni will once again need to keep an eye on the over-rate against Rajasthan Royals in their third match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday (April 19).


The IPL Playing Conditions state: the officials will calculate the over-rate at the end of each innings. However, they will take the following allowances into consideration as well according to Clause 12.7.3:


  • The time lost as a result of treatment given to a player by authorized medical personnel on the field of play.
  • The time lost as a result of a player being required to leave the field as a result of a serious injury.
  • The time taken for all third umpire referrals, consultations and any umpire or player reviews.
  • The time lost as a result of time-wasting by the batting side.
  • The time lost due to all other circumstances that are beyond the control of the fielding side.

Talking about the match, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals would look to build on their first wins and gain momentum when they clash in the IPL 2021 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.


The two sides bounced back after losing their opening fixtures with wins, albeit in contrasting styles.


While the MS Dhoni-led CSK had it easy against Punjab Kings, the Royals scraped through against Delhi Capitals in the final over. Both teams would be eyeing a second win to give their campaign a boost.