‘Tears were coming out of his eyes’- Michael Hussey recalls MS Dhoni getting emotional on Chennai’s comeback in 2018 edition

Chennai is one of the most successful franchises in the history of the Indian T20 League. They is no denying that they are the most consistent ones, looking at their incredible record of reaching the playoffs in almost every season they took part in. Chennai is also one of the most loved franchises in the competition. It’s majorly due to the presence of MS Dhoni in the team.

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The former Indian skipper has led the team since the inaugural edition. Under his leadership, Chennai have won four titles. MS Dhoni, too, has often expressed his love for the franchise. There’s no doubt that veteran cricketer has an emotional connect with the franchise.

Perhaps, no other cricketer other than MS Dhoni himself would have been more disheartened after the franchise was banned from playing the league for two seasons, i.e., 2016 and 2017 editions. During this period, MS Dhoni played for Rising Pune Super Giants in the Indian T20 League.

However, Chennai made a comeback in the 2018 edition and MS Dhoni, once again, was at the helm of affairs. For all those who follow the sport religiously know how much this franchise means to the former Indian skipper. And, coming back was indeed a special moment for him. Recently, in a video shared by the Chennai franchise on their social media handle, Michael Hussey recalled the incident when MS Dhoni gave an arousing speech on Chennai’s arrival ahead of the start of the 2018 edition of the tournament.

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“I think there’s not one particular memory but we see these championship-winning photos on the wall… I think probably the 2018 season. We were out of the competition for two years. We came back and I remember MS giving a speech right at the start of the season,” Hussey told former Australian opener Matthew Hayden in a ‘Super Reunion’ video shared by CSK.

“He actually started tearing; tears were coming out of his eyes and I remember thinking, ‘Something special is happening here’,” he added. Hussey further said CSK’s title-winning campaign on comeback gave him goosebumps.

“That was a special season. It gives you goosebumps just thinking about what happened that year. It was almost like it was meant to be after coming back to the IPL. MS played unbelievably well throughout the season. It was just a special time,” he stated further.

MS Dhoni was outstanding with the bat during that season. In 16 matches, he scored 455 runs at an average and a strike rate of 75.83 and 150.66. He led the team to win their third Indian T20 League title after beating Hyderabad in the final.