Star power thy name is MS Dhoni! Three days after setting a viewership record on Jio Cinema – IPL’s digital broadcasters – in the opening fixture of world cricket’s biggest annual tournament between his Chennai Super Kings and defending champions Gujarat Titans, CSK’s ‘Thala’ set a new one on Monday.
In CSK’s home game against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday, which also happened to be the Dhoni’s first at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium in 1,426 days – the former India skipper had played his last IPL match there in May 2019 – fans literally “raised the roof” on ground as well as on screen.
Viewership on Jio Cinema touched 1.7 crore – the highest so far in IPL 2023 – in his brief but spectacular three-ball stay at the crease. No prizes for guessing that it was Dhoni who had created the prior record as well. The previous record was 1.6 crore, set on Friday in the tournament opener.
