The defending champions end their campaign with a defeat against Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium. With this win, Rajasthan confirms their spot in the qualifier 1 as they have finished in the second position in the IPL standings. MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Moeen Ali played his best innings in IPL with the bat as he smashed a career highest 93.

That helped CSK to post 150/6 in 20 overs, which was a below-par total. Rajasthan chased down the total without any contribution from the Orange cap holder. It was Ravichandran Ashwin who finished the game with the bat for RR with 2 balls to spare.

Let’s look at the talking points from the CSK Vs RR game –

Dhoni to play in IPL 2023

 One great news that came before the game started last night is MS Dhoni will be playing next year’s IPL. There were speculations about his retirement after he left the captaincy at the start of this campaign. But after some poor results, Dhoni took the charge again and has been in good form with the bat. Dhoni wants to take the chance to say thank you to all his fans across India next year as IPL is expected to be played on the Home-Away system again next year.

During the toss, commentator Ian Bishan asked Dhoni – will he play in the next season? To this Dhoni said, “Definitely will play, because it would be unfair to say no to Chennai. It wouldn’t be nice to Chennai fans if I do not play in Chepauk. I am hopeful that in the IPL next year, the teams will get a chance to travel to different cities. This will also give an opportunity to the fans at different places to say thank you.”

Dhoni further said, “I have received a lot of love from the fans. It would be like saying thank you to everyone. However, whether it will be my last season or not, it is too early to say anything. You cannot predict next two years. Will definitely work hard to come back strong next season.” 

Moeen Ali’s highest IPL score in CSK vs RR

Moeen Ali played his best IPL knock last night against RR with a 57 ball 93. It was his first fifty in this year’s IPL. Ali was in his prime form as he smashed 13 fours and 3 sixes in his innings. He completed his half-century within 19 balls but thereafter he slowed down a bit with the wickets falling at the other end.

Yuzvendra Chahal back on top in Purple cap race –

The leg spinner picked up two in this game to go top of the chart in the Purple cap race. He picked up Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni in this game and ended with the figures of 2/26.

Ashwin the finisher

Ashwin is proving his worth as a bowling all-rounder this season with some eye-catching knocks with the bat. In this match, he came in at 112/5 and scored an unbeaten 40 off 23 balls to help RR chase down the total with two balls remaining.