'Thala' Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings Celebrate Tamil New Year in Whistle Podu Style

The people of Tamil Nadu are celebrating the first day of the Tamil New Year, also known as Puthandu, today, April 14. To mark the auspicious occasion, Chennai Super Kings shared a special post on their official Twitter page. The IPL franchise dropped a swag-infused photograph, featuring Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja in a new avatar, alongside captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The cricketer trio, dressed in the traditional Tamil attire of Veshti and a garland around their necks, can be seen walking out of their home ground Chepauk. The photo was accompanied with a Tamil caption that roughly translated to, “Everything will be fine from now on! Happy Tamil New Year."

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Cricket fans of Chennai are well recognised for their sky-high excitement for MS Dhoni. The Twitter post featuring “Thala" did not go unnoticed by them as well and the comment sections reflected their craze. A fan shared some glimpses of his fandom, dropping a few photos of his room filled with photographs of the former India skipper. “Wish You all a very Happy and Super Tamil New Year. Lots of Whistles and Lots of Yellove to our CSK Family. One Life! One Love! CSK & DHONI," the tweet read.

Another fan lauded the editor for visualising MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad in a never-seen-before avatar, while also wishing them “Happy Tamil New Year."

A user went on to compare the cricketers with three prominent stars of the Tamil film industry– Rajnikanth, Thalapathy Vijay and Sivakarthikeyan.

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Here are some other reactions:

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Chennai Super Kings might have failed to win their last IPL game against Rajasthan Royals but fans got the opportunity to watch some glimpses of MS Dhoni’s finishing prowess. Batting first, Rajasthan put up a decent target of 176 runs with Jos Buttler being their standout batter. The English opener notched up a half-century, scoring 52 off 36 balls. Ravindra Jadeja once again shone with the ball as the Chennai all-rounder fetched two crucial scalps of Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson.

While on chase, Chennai lost the wicket of in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad early. Following the youngster’s dismissal, Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane tried to rescue them from the initial damage, stitching a 68-run partnership. But the middle order failed to build on the foundation, leaving Dhoni and Jadeja with the majority of the burden. The duo managed to take them on the verge of winning but fell just 3 runs short of the required score.

During his 32-run knock, which came in only 17 balls, Dhoni whacked three maximums and one boundary. Jadeja also looked dangerous as the Southpaw remained unbeaten at 25 off 15 deliveries. The Super Kings will try to get back on the winning track when they face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the next game, scheduled for April 17.

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