Watch: MS Dhoni felicitated at Lucknow's Ekana stadium by BCCI VP Rajeev Shukla

Chennai Super Kings' captain MS Dhoni was felicitated before the start of rain-marred game.

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni was felicitated ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday.

It was Dhoni's first-ever match at the venue. He was felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

The former captain of India, MS Dhoni has a great legacy in the IPL. In 243 games, he has scored 5,052 runs at an average of 39.47. He has amassed 24 half-centuries, 348 fours, and 237 sixes while batting down the order.

Dhoni has been affiliated with CSK since the cash-rich League's inaugural season. Every game, he is backed by a sizable yellow army, and the audience erupts into raucous cheers as soon as he steps up to the crease.

This IPL season, Captain Cool appears more at ease and assured. By hitting bowlers for big boundaries, he has been concluding games in his own distinctive manner. He has scored 74 runs in nine games while playing down the order on a 74.00 average. So far, he has hit eight sixes.

Here is the video of his felicitation:

https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1653746622873096192

LSG v CSK match called off due to rain

MS Dhoni had won the toss and chose to bowl first citing the overcast conditions and damp pitch. His spinners made sure that their captain’s decision was correct.

The LSG batsmen struggled to deal with the CSK spinners as Kyle Mayers scored 14 before being dismissed by Moeen Ali, while Manan Vohra was out for 10 runs after being bowled by Maheesh Theekshana.

On his IPL captaincy debut, Krunal Pandya received a golden duck, and Marcus Stoinis was duped by Ravindra Jadeja.

When LSG was 44/5 Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran stabilized the innings. Pooran was out for 20 runs, while Badoni reached his first IPL fifty while scoring 59 runs in 33 balls with 4 sixes and 2 fours.

With the match being called off due to rain with LSG 125/7 in 19.2 overs, both the teams shared one point each.