The defending champions Chennai Super Kings will be playing their last league match today (18 May 2024) at M. Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru against Royal Challengers Bangalore and the result of this match will decide which team will be the fourth team of the play-offs.
While CSK needs to simply win the match, RCB needs to win the match by a margin of 18 or more runs and if they win by chasing, they have to chase the target in 18.1 or less overs.
This match is also quite special because this is the last time MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik will be playing against each other because DK has already made it clear that it will be his last IPL and though MS Dhoni has not said anything about his retirement, he has left the captaincy and there are some reports which suggest that he is not fit enough to carry on further.
MSD and DK started their international career almost at the same time and DK was not able to make a big mark at the international level because Dhoni left no scope for him. However, DK has still made his presence felt whenever he got the chance to do so and in the IPL, the last few years have been remarkable for him.
While MS Dhoni was associated with CSK from the inaugural edition of 2008 and he has made his mark as one of the most successful skippers of the tournament in view of the fact that CSK has won five titles under his leadership, Dinesh Karthik has played for six franchises – Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Gujarat Lions (now defunct) and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
When Dinesh Karthik is asked about having any regrets in his career, he says that he does not have many regrets; the first one is that he refused to get retained by Mumbai Indians and preferred to go for the auction in 2014 because MI could have helped him in becoming a better player and the second regret is that he never played for CSK despite the fact that he is from Chennai and plays for Tamil Nadu but he hasn’t been able to don the yellow jersey. However, DK also says that he respects the franchise because every time they tried to get him in their set-up by bidding for him, things didn’t work in the end.
While one of them (MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik) will end his IPL journey with this match, the other one will play quite a few matches more and might have a chance to lift the trophy. Which team will win the IPL 2024 according to you?
