Suryakumar Yadav gives a sassy reply when asked about “uncapped” MS Dhoni ahead of the MI vs CSK match

Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians as a stand-in-skipper owing to Hardik Pandya’s match ban.

In the upcoming Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match today, March 23, in the evening, Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI instead of Hardik Pandya, who is set to miss the season’s opener for MI owing to a match ban. Yadav will lead MI against CSK at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. In the afternoon, Sunrisers Hyderabad will face Rajasthan Royals. In a pre-match press conference, Suryakumar Yadav gave a sassy reply when asked how he would take care of “uncapped” MS Dhoni.

Suryakumar Yadav gave a witty reply when asked about handling MS Dhoni in the field.

In a pre-match press conference in Chepauk held on Saturday, Suryakumar Yadav was asked how he would take care of uncapped MS Dhoni. The stand-in MI skipper first misunderstood the question and asked, “Control who? Umpires?” After the reporter reiterated his query, the India T20I skipper was left in splits before saying, “Has anyone ever been able to control Dhoni in so many years?” He added, “It’s always an excitement when you come to Chennai and watch him come out of the dressing room; it’s always a good thing. You learnt so many good things from him, and we still do whenever we get an opportunity we have a chat with him. I’m excited to see him again, but I will be leading against him, so it will be a good challenge.”

MS Dhoni to play in the uncapped category.

MS Dhoni will be playing under the “uncapped” category in IPL 2025 after the BCCI reinstated a rule that was scrapped in 2021. As per the rule, a player who hasn’t played an international game for more than five years will fall under the uncapped category. Dhoni last played an international game in the 2019 World Cup semifinal and announced his retirement a year later.

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is serving a one-match ban handed by the BCCI for the team’s third over-rate offence in the 2024 edition of IPL. However, he is set to become the last IPL captain to be banned for over-rate offences as the BCCI changed the rule earlier this week. From IPL 2025 onwards, captains will only be docked demerit points.