Last time MS Dhoni missed an IPL match as CSK captain was on March 23, 2010 against RCB in Bengaluru.
Legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed his first Indian Premier League (IPL) match as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain on Wednesday. In his absence, Suresh Raina led the defending champions against last year's finalists SunRisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
It may read too presumptuous, but the absence of Dhoni seemed to have affected CSK's overall performance, including that of taking reviews. For the uninitiated, Dhoni has one of the best cricketing brains, and oftentimes DRS is referred to as the Dhoni Review System.
With Dhoni in the stands, CSK lost a couple of reviews, both in one Rashid Khan over. First ball of the 14th over trapped Raina in front and the dreaded finger was raised by umpire Samsuddin. Ambati Rayudu, at the non-striker's end instantly urged the stand-in skipper to take the review, and it returned as an umpire's call. CSK retained the review but lost the wicket.
Three balls later, Rashid trapped new man Kedar Jadhav. Another review, and this time too umpire's call as Samsuddin has a field day.
Watch both the wickets here:
Raina won the toss and opted to bat but failed to make the most of it on a seemingly batting friendly pitch despite Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis posting their best start of the season -- 79 in 9.5 overs. Faf top-scored with 45 off 31. Rashid was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/17.