Sunil Gavaskar reacts to MS Dhoni's emotional speech for CSK after their 2018 IPL return

The Indian Premier League season 16 is about to get underway from March 31 with the opening game scheduled between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Ahead of the season, an old video of MS Dhoni speaking to the CSK team ahead of their return in the 2018 season has drawn a strong reaction from legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.

In the video, which was shown during the post-match discussion of India vs Australia third ODI, Dhoni was seen fighting back tears as he spoke to the team on its return after serving a two-year ban. The video further showed Suresh Raina helping Dhoni by offering him water and revealed how the two years of the ban were difficult for the entire CSK team.

After the video ended, Gavaskar was asked about Dhoni’s role in making CSK the second most successful franchise in the history of IPL (in terms of titles bagged) as he’s led them to four IPL titles. He credited the ‘Captain Cool’ for bringing the team together after the two-year gap and guiding them to their third title win in 2018.

"I think when CSK returned and won the IPL trophy, it was absolutely amazing because the team had not been together for two years and they had moved out with different franchises and suddenly they came back again. That tells you about leadership," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

"That tells you how the man could get a team together again after that gap. Sometimes you know, first year, second year there is a team spirit that happens but to get all of them together after the gap is remarkable,” Gavaskar added.

In July 2015, the Justice Lodha Committee imposed a two-year ban on CSK and Rajasthan Royals after their owners were found involved in the Indian Premier League 2013 spot-fixing scandal, which rocked the entire cricketing fraternity.

As a result, players from the two teams were shifted to other teams for the next two seasons. Dhoni played for the Rising Pune Supergiant while Raina led Gujarat Lions.

Apart from CSK, Dhoni also had a remarkable comeback donning the yellow jersey as he had the second most successful season of his IPL career. He scored 455 runs at an average of 75.83 and a strike rate of 150.66 in 2018 with three half-centuries to his name.

From outside the off stump, MS Dhoni was hitting it over long on for sixes: Sunil Gavaskar

Recalling Dhoni’s incredible form in the 2018 season, Gavaskar said that some of his shots during that season were nothing short of mind-boggling.

"I think therefore that particular year and some of the shots that he played, I remember one game where the teams needed 20 odd runs in the final over and he just smashed it around from everywhere from outside the off stump, he was hitting it over long on for sixes," said the 73-year-old.

"We were used to seeing that from Dhoni but even those little touches of his where he makes a fielder, a player feel 7 feet tall, are the touches that make him stand out from the other,” the 1983 world cup winner further said.

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