"Thala for a reason" - PBKS take a cheeky dig at MS Dhoni's CSK after a clinical IPL 2024 victory

Modified May 02, 2024 10:15 IST

PBKS secured a clinical victory over CSK on Wednesday (Image: BCCI/IPL)

Punjab Kings' (PBKS) social media account took a sly dig at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after an impressive seven-wicket victory at Chepauk on Wednesday, May 1.

In their tweet, Punjab related MS Dhoni's jersey number (7) to their position in the points table. Currently, PBKS are positioned seventh with four victories in 10 games.

It's evident that Dhoni is fondly called, "Thala" by the CSK fans. The meaning of the Tamil word is leader of chief, which relates to Dhoni being the leader of the side.

Under Dhoni's captaincy, the Super Kings qualified for the playoffs on 12 out of 14 occasions and lifted Indian Premier League titles (2010,2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023). Due to this reason, he has been rated highly by the fans over the years.

However, ahead of this season, Dhoni passed the captaincy baton to the current Orange Cap holder Ruturaj Gaikwad. In terms of performance, CSK have done well with five wins in 10 appearances.

Here's the tweet by Punjab Kings:

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PBKS keep their playoffs hopes alive with a crucial victory against CSK

Asked to bat first, Chennai Super Kings got off to a stable start with Ajinkya Rahane (29) and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Unfortunately, CSK lost Rahane, Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja in quick succession, which put them on the backfoot.

However, Gaikwad played a sensible knock of 62 off 48 balls, while Sameer Rizvi contributed 21 off 23 balls to pave the way for the home team to post 162 on the board. Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar took two wickets each, respectively.

In response, Prabhsimran Singh (13) started well, but couldn't convert it into a big knock. Nevertheless, the overseas duo of Jonny Bairstow (46) and Rilee Rossouw (43) kept PBKS in good stead with their positive intent.

Thereafter, Shashank Singh (25) and Sam Curran (26*) were impressive to take PBKS across the line with 13 balls to spare.

If they are qualify for the playoffs, PBKS needs to win their remaining four games to finish with 16 points. Certainly, with two wins on the trot, and Shikhar Dhawan's availability likely in the coming games, the Punjab Kings will be confident of their outlook.