Top five memorable knocks of MS Dhoni in Indian T20 League

MS Dhoni has been one of the most exciting players to have blessed the Indian T20 League. He has maintained a stature of a genius of the game. Whenever he walks in to bat, everyone is excited to see what he has to offer. There have been many instances in the Indian T20 League when MS Dhoni has stolen all the limelight and given us some great memories. Here are some of the best MS Dhoni knocks in the ITL.

54* vs Punjab, 2010

In a must-win game against the Kumar Sangakkara-led Punjab team, MS Dhoni led Chennai to a memorable win. Captain MS Dhoni took it upon himself to take the team through in the match. He went on to play a captain's knock, scoring 54 runs off 29 balls to get his team over the line in a chase of 193. Dhoni's undefeated knock propelled Chennai to a remarkable victory in Dharamshala. With 16 required off the last over, the iconic batter needed just four deliveries to complete the chase, hitting Irfan Pathan for two big sixes.

51 vs Mumbai, 2013

The two most successful franchises in the tournament's history, Mumbai and Chennai, share a huge rivalry. In any encounter between the two teams, great action is always on the cards. Chennai bowlers limited Rohit Sharma's team to 148 in the fifth match of the ITL 2013. Chennai's batting line-up, on the other hand, crumbled early on, losing five wickets for 66 runs. Dhoni was the one who kept his team in the hunt until the last over. Before being dismissed by Munaf Patel, the 40-year-old had scored 51 runs off 26 balls. Chennai was eventually defeated by Mumbai, who won the game by 9 runs.

70* vs Bangalore, 2018

Another rivalry that has been iconic in the Indian T20 League is the Chennai-Bangalore rivalry. In a mammoth of a chase of 206 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Chennai failed to capitalize early on. Chennai were 74 for 4 at one stage. MS Dhoni, on the other hand, had some other plans. He built a partnership of 101 with Ambati Rayudu to maintain the team's composure. He hit 70 runs off 34 balls to take the team through. Thala hit seven huge sixes and just a single boundary in his innings.

64* vs Punjab, 2016

In the maiden season of the new Pune team, they had not played particularly well. However, things changed in this match. Chasing a total of 173 against the Punjab side, Pune kept losing wickets. MS Dhoni was left stranded on one end. He then decided to take on the bowlers and not wait any longer. Pune needed 22 runs in the last five balls and Dhoni hit those runs, hitting two sixes of the last two balls.

75* vs Rajasthan, 2019

Chennai openers Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson were dismissed early in the first innings against Rajasthan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. When MS Dhoni stepped out to bat, the home team had only scored 27 runs in the powerplay for the loss of three wickets. Under pressure, he played a fantastic knock. On a slow pitch, he scored 75 not out off 46 balls. In the 20th over, he also hit a hat-trick of sixes against Jaydev Unadkat, helping Chennai post 175. Chennai won the match by 8 runs thanks to MS Dhoni.