MS Dhoni, at the age of 43, shattered an 11-year-old record on Monday night as he led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a thrilling victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
His fiery cameo of 26 runs from just 11 balls guided CSK to a much-needed five-wicket win, chasing down LSG’s target of 167 in the final over of the match at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Dhoni’s match-winning performance earned him the Player of the Match (POTM) award, making him the oldest player in IPL history to receive the accolade.
At 43 years and 280 days, Dhoni surpassed the previous record set by Pravin Tambe, who had won the POTM at the age of 42 years and 208 days in 2014.
With this achievement, Dhoni became the first player in the IPL’s history to be named Player of the Match at 43.
While Dhoni accepted the honour, he humbly credited Afghan spinner Noor Ahmed for his excellent bowling performance.
"Even today I was like - 'why are they giving me the award?'" Dhoni said in the post-match presentation. "Noor bowled really well," he added.
Reflecting on his team’s performance, Dhoni acknowledged the work done by the bowling unit and pointed out that the batting side needed to step up in upcoming games.
"As a bowling unit we've done well. As a batting unit, we can do better. Roles and responsibilities - that's what we talk about," he said. Dhoni also praised Shaik Rasheed’s performance, noting his impressive showing in the nets and potential to dominate with authentic shots.
This win, which ended a string of consecutive losses for CSK, came just in time as the franchise looked to regain momentum in the 2025 season.
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