IPL 2018: MS Dhoni reveals how 'bad' his back injury is after CSK lose against KXIP

Mohali: This must be one of the only few times when MS Dhoni, batting in the last over, could not help his team cross the finish line. But with a sore back, Dhoni, turned the clock back and hammered unbeaten 79 off 44 balls as Chennai Super Kings suffered their first defeat of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 here on Sunday against R Ashwin’s Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

CSK, requiring 198 runs to win, needed 17 runs of the final over to complete a hat-trick of wins and Dhoni, to his credit, almost pulled it off for them. However, it was KXIP, who managed to hold their nerve to seal a four-run win even as Dhoni hit the last-ball six.

The target was stiff, more so, after CSK lost three quick wickets with not many on board and Dhoni batting with back problem. While CSK have already lost Raina for a two games following their win against Mumbai Indians (MI), Dhoni’s injury would be a cause of concern.

“It’s bad. How bad it is, I don’t know,” said Dhoni during his post-match interview with Isa Guha.

When told that he still managed to strike it well, he replied, “Oh yes, the God has given me enough power. I don’t need to use my back a lot. The hand can do the job. Overall, we will asses how bad it is. It should not be too bad because I know what really happened. Once you know what kind of injury it is, it becomes slightly easy to get out of it,” said Dhoni.

“Also, we have three-four days now before the next game, so (there’s) enough time. Also, I am quite used to playing with a few injuries; whether it is back, fingers, elbow or something else. So, you have to be tough and play out the game,” concluded the CSK skipper.