Chennai Super Kings, after a disastrous last season, launch their IPL 2021 campaign against Delhi Capitals at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. After a thrilling start to the tournament on Friday, the first weekend clash of this season promises to be yet another blockbuster, pitting MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant against each other. Excited with the prospect of the two wicket-keepers going up against one another, Team India head coach Ravi Shastri took to Twitter and wrote: "Guru vs Chela. Bahot Maza aayega aaj (it'll be great fun tonight). Stump Mic suniyega zaroor (do listen to the stump mic) #DhoniReturns #Pant #IPL2021 #DCvsCSK - @ChennaiIPL @DelhiCapitals".
In his tweet, Shastri referred to the former India skipper as the guru (mentor) and Pant as his chela (disciple) and also made a request to the fans, urging them to listen to the stump mic during the match.
Both Dhoni and Pant are quite vocal behind the stumps as they try to help out the bowlers while they are bowling. While Dhoni's focus is more on discussing strategies with his bowlers, Pant chirpiness behind the stumps puts him in extra limelight.
Excited to go against his mentor in their opening match, Pant feels it will be a "good experience" for him as he has learnt a great deal playing under MS Dhoni. However, he also feels it is equally important for him to use his own experience and apply it in his game and come up with a different plan against the second most successful side in IPL's history.
"My first match as captain will be against Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai. It will be a good experience for me as I have learned a lot from him. I have my own experience as a player as well... I'll apply my own experience and the learnings from MS Dhoni, and try to do something different against CSK," Pant was quoted as saying in a Delhi Capitals' press release.