His humility, captaincy and calmness will be remembered for ages: Ramiz Raja lauds MS Dhoni

IPL 2023 edition ended in the early hours on Tuesday (May 30) with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) emerging on top of defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) to win their fifth title overall. MS Dhoni & Co. ended second in the points table after the end of the league stage before being the first team to enter the final with a win in Qualifier 1. In the summit clash, they won by five wickets (DLS method) in a rain-marred contest.

Opting to bowl first, the Yellow Army were in for a leather hunt as GT rode on Shubman Gill's 39 (20), Wriddhiman Saha's 39-ball 54, and Sai Sudharsan's 96 (47) to post 214/4. In reply, CSK needed 171 in 15 overs, after a lengthy rain break, and chased down the score courtesy of quickfire knocks from Ruturaj Gaikwad (16-ball 26), Devon Conway's 25-ball 47, Ajinkya Rahane's 13-ball 27, Shivam Dube's 32* (21), Ambati Rayudu's 8-ball 18 and Ravindra Jadeja's 6-ball 15*.

Recently, former Pakistan captain and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja reviewed the recently-concluded IPL season and said it will be remembered for the 'colour yellow and for MS Dhoni'. He heaped praises on the Indian legend and said his 'humility, captaincy and calmness will be remembered for ages'.

'IPL 2023 will be remembered for MS Dhoni'

"This IPL will be remembered for the colour yellow, and for MS Dhoni. His humility, the Dhonimania, his captaincy, his calmness, and his keeping will be remembered for ages. But most of all, this IPL will be remembered for the moment when a legend like Sunil Gavaskar asked MS Dhoni to sign an autograph on his shirt. There cannot be a bigger compliment for MS Dhoni," Ramizsaid on his YouTube channel.

Fans gathered in large numbers in every CSK gameto catch a glimpse of Dhoni, who most believe played his last season. However, after winning the final, Dhoni said he will aim to play in the next editionif his body permits.

'There has never been a spectacle as big in IPL history'

Further, Ramiz also hailed India's young stars andhighlighted thateven big-ticketplayerswere benched (for example, Quinton de Kock for the Lucknow franchise) whereas coaching staffs filled with big names also could not inspire many teams (Hyderabad ended at the bottom despite the presence of head coach Brian Lara, bowling coach Dale Steyn).

He said, "It will be remembered for young batting talent, the likes of Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. These are stars who’ll decorate these grounds for many years to come. The season will also be remembered for the big names that were benched and players from small nations who made a big mark. For the fact that even if you have big names in the coaching staff in the dugout, there’s no guarantee of success for the teams (Hyderabad had big names in their coaching staff but ended last)."

Ramiz further added, "This IPL will be remembered for the fans, for great shot-making and for great catching. Even bowlerstook their game up in pressure situations. The tournament will be remembered for Gujarat Titans’ bowling and leg spin bowling. This IPL had a wow factor. There has never been a spectacle as big in IPL history.”

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