Watch: MS Dhoni comes out to rapturous ovation before GT vs CSK IPL final
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came out to rapturous ovation as he prepared to warm up before the final between Gujarat Titans and CSK at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.
The crowd which did not get to witness a match on Sunday due to rain turned up in droves on Monday as the cheers reached fever pitch at the first sight of Dhoni.
Meanwhile, Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first against Gujarat Titans in the final. Both teams are unchanged.
“We’ll bowl first with the rain forecast being around. Yesterday we were in the dressing room. As a cricketer you always want to play. It was the crowd that suffered the most. Hopefully we can entertain them. Pitch has been under cover for a long time, but throughout the tournament the pitch has behaved well over here. Quite happy it will be a 20-over game we’ll be playing. Serves justice to the tournament like this,” Dhoni said after the toss.
Yesterday, Ahmedabad recorded an average of 72.6 mm of rain, with the Chandkheda area recording the highest rain at 98 mm and the West Zone 89.25 mm barely within four hours between 6 and 10 pm, official data showed.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted rain in various parts of the state on Monday and Tuesday. “Light thunderstorm with lightning and surface wind 30- 40 kmph (in gust) accompanied with light to moderate rain very likely in the districts of North Gujarat region namely Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Panchmahal, and Dahod; in the districts of Saurashtra namely Rajkot, Amreli, and Bhavnagar,” the forecast read.
The weather department has also issued a thunderstorm alert with lightning and strong winds of 30- 40 kmph (in gust) accompanied in North Gujarat and Saurashtra.