The stage is set for the final before the final at the IPL 2024. When Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings will clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, India will be divided in two camps. The match will pit two great cricket stars Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni against one another, with their teams fighting out for the lone playoff spot. For MS Dhoni, this may very well be the last IPL match if his team loses.
However, all that is speculation. CSK currently is the front-runner to grab the fourth play-off spot. A win against RCB on Saturday will see them through. If RR and SRH lose their last matches against KKR and Punjab Kings respectively, CSK can dream of a top-two finish too, provided they have better Net Run-rate. They can also advance even if they lose to RCB. For that, the side must ensure that the losing margin is not big. That will see their NRR remain better than RCB and hence finish above the rivals in the final points table.
On top of that Dhoni holds two important statistical highs vs RCB. Dhoni has 43 sixes vs RCB - most sixes against an opponent in the IPL. His highest IPL score if 84* also came against the team in 2019.
Former Indian cricket team pacer Varun Aaron feels it will be a MS Dhoni show come Saturday.
"I have a feeling it's going to be the MS show this game, because it's all building up to this. I just feel it's going to be that way because he loves the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He's played some epic innings there. I remember him pull up some crazy even once they fell short by by one run that last over against Umesh Yadav, which is actually etched in my memory. I never forget that he scored 20-21 runs single-handedly of the last over, so MS Dhoni at Chinnaswamy stadium is really, really dangerous," Aaron said on Star Sports.
"Also. He's one of those guys who has a really high pain threshold and bites the bullet to make sure he forgets about his injury," he added.