"It feels good" - MS Dhoni ahead of his 200th game as Chennai Super Kings' captain in the IPL

MS Dhoni becomes first player in the history to lead a single team for 200 matches in the IPL.

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni addressed his 200th match as the captain of the Yellow Brigade, saying that it feels good and thanked the Chepauk crowd for their unrelenting support. Having chosen to bowl first against the Rajasthan Royals, the veteran keeper-batter said dew appearing is a possibility later in the game.

Dhoni is arguably one of the most successful captains in IPL history, having won four titles with the Super Kings, the first of which was in 2010. The Ranchi-born cricketer is also the most-capped captain since the tournament's inception and is on top for the most number of victories. Furthermore, he is one of the only two skippers to successfully defend the title.

Dhoni, who has played plenty of cricket at the Chepauk, observed that the new stadium is completely in contrast to the older one and it feels good to play. He also feels the four-time champions have done well despite a few injury concerns. He said at the toss:

"We will bowl first. It may be slightly on the slower side, different from the first game. Dew may play a role and it might get better in the second innings. It feels good and also I feel the crowd has been fantastic. Also, the fact that we started in the old stadium, it was very hot and humid. But now it feels like we're playing in Switzerland. It's good to play. We have seen cricket change - how T20 was played at that point of time till now, a lot has changed. The crowd has been fantastic. We have had injury concerns and players were unavailable, but still we have done well."

MS Dhoni received a memento before the toss to mark the special occasion

Before the game, the 41-year-old was presented with a memento to present the special occasion. While Dhoni is yet to make his mark with the bat in IPL 2023, his two mighty sixes against the Lucknow Super Giants' speedster Mark Wood in Chennai made the crowd go berserk.

At the toss, the former Indian captain also announced two changes, drafting in Maheesh Theekshana and Moeen Ali for Mitchell Santner and Dwaine Pretorious. The Super Kings lost the season opener to the Gujarat Titans, but bounced back to beat the Super Giants and Mumbai Indians.