'Abe tu bhag ke dikha 41 ki age me' - Fans fume as Matthew Hayden raises questions on MS Dhoni's running between wickets against RR

On Wednesday, April 12, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, former legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni and India's star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja came close to pulling off a miraculous chase for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals, but CSK succumbed to RR by three runs in the 17th match of the Indian Premier League 2023.

Matthew Hayden, a former Australian batter, noted that he saw Dhoni walking after the defeat, which alarmedly raised the possibility of an injury for the Yellow Army. Dhoni's fitness could be an issue for the four-time IPL champions, despite the former CSK legend's assurances that he wasn't attempting to aggravate the issue.

“We will not give fans the false expectations that nothing's wrong. There is definitely something wrong with MS Dhoni. His running between the wickets is usually quite electric, which was not there today. As the innings progressed on, we saw him limping quite heavily. There are some question marks, that I am sure that MS Dhoni will have to answer and the medical staff will get straight into it. He will want to keep playing in the tournament," Hayden said after the game.

Brilliant last over by Sandeep Sharma

Talking about the CSK innings, chasing the target of 175 runs, they lost Ruturaj Gaikwad got out early but Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane stitched a 50-run stand together, keeping the scoreboard ticking. Nonetheless, the spinners were gaining traction and turning as anticipated, and they controlled the run rate. Because of the increasing asking rate, CSK kept losing wickets, but Jadeja and Dhoni offered the hosts one final chance.

40 runs was needed off the last 2 overs, Jason Holder was taken away for 19 runs in the penultimate over. 20 was needed off the last over and Dhoni would have backed himself. Sandeep Sharma missed his target and was struck twice in quick succession for sixes. But he provided yorkers when they were needed, and Dhoni was unable to end it.

Here's how fans reacted to Hayden's statement on MS Dhoni:

Because he have confidence on @imjadeja he can hit huge, so thats it...

— 𝕸𝖗.𝕾𝖆𝖎 _ 🇮🇳 (@imVsai) April 13, 2023

He has to retire gracefully, shameless man

— GEM of a man (@sweetandspice67) April 13, 2023

Hayden should stay back in Lahore only

— Ganesh Jangam (@GRJangam) April 13, 2023

He must be 44-45 years of age in reality.

— MAEkyaBoltaai (@stalreja112) April 13, 2023

Bro he’s 40, cut him some slack.

— RM (@mahajan_69) April 12, 2023

Yes, it was evident that he was struggling to run while he was keeping

— pèRRõ🍁 manja maakan 💛 (@haveyoumetperro) April 13, 2023

खुद मैथ्यू हेडन 41 साल की उम्र में कितना भाग लेता था ।

धोनी आज भी 30 साल के युवा से तेज भाग सकता है।

— krishna (@hemant29898002) April 13, 2023

We hav to appreciate Anderson 👏👏

— makumaRRR (@ramukyanihba) April 13, 2023