IPL 2020: Suresh Raina shares emotional message for MS Dhoni during CSK vs SRH in Dubai

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star Suresh Raina reacted after MS Dhoni broke his record to become the most-capped player in any T20 league on Friday.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match between CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) marked Dhoni's 194th appearance in India's T20, one more than Raina's 193 IPL appearances. Raina, who has decided not to play in the IPL 2020 due to personal reasons, took to social media to express his delight about Dhoni breaking his record.

"Congratulations Mahi bhai at becoming the most capped IPL player. Happiest that my record is being broken by you. All the best for the game today and am sure @ChennaiIPL will win this season's @IPL," tweeted Raina, who was a vital part of Dhoni-led CSK that lifted the IPL trophy three times (2010, 2011, and 2018).

In the same match between SRH and CSK, Dhoni also completed 4,500 runs in the IPL. He was only the fourth Indian batsman to reach the milestone in the IPL after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, Raina, Mumbai Indians (MI) batsman Rohit Sharma, and Delhi Capitals' Shikhar Dhawan. Overall, Dhoni was the eighth batsmen in the IPL to score 4,500 or more runs. SRH's David Warner and RCB big-hitter AB de Villiers are the overseas players, who have 4,500 or more IPL runs.

Meanwhile, only three players have scored 5,000 or more runs in the IPL – Kohli (5,430), Raina (5,368), and Rohit (5,068), who was the latest entry in the elite list.

While Dhoni clinched a couple of records on Friday, CSK ended up losing the match to SRH by seven runs in Dubai. It was CSK's third consecutive loss in IPL 2020, their first such instance since 2014. With three losses in four matches, CSK remain at the bottom of the points table, while Warner's SRH have climbed to fourth place, having bagged two wins in four games.

During their chase of SRH's target of 165, CSK lost quick wickets. Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson were back to the pavilion inside six overs, leaving CSK at 26 for 2. Faf du Plessis, who has been CSK's best batsman this IPL, once again looked in good touch. He struck four boundaries before he was run out on the final delivery of the powerplay.

While SRH got rid of CSK's middle-order in no time, the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni began to rebuild CSK's chase. Jadeja, who has been a part of the IPL since the inaugural edition in 2008, finally struck his maiden IPL fifty. Jadeja took 174 matches to reach his first half-century in the tournament. As Dhoni and Sam Curran remained unbeaten in the end, CSK fell short by seven runs on Friday.

Earlier, Warner won the toss and opted to bat. They did not have the best of starts as they lost Jonny Bairstow for a three-ball duck in the first over. Manish Pandey, who was looking in good touch, was dismissed in the eighth over, leaving SRH at 47 for 2. Pandey struck five fours in his knock of 29 from 21 balls. Three overs later, SRH lost two wickets in quick succession: Warner (28 from 29) was caught at the boundary by Faf du Plessis before Kane Williamson ran himself out on the very next delivery, leaving SRH at 69 for 4.

Abhishek Sharma scored a quick 31 off 24 balls before he got caught behind off Deepak Chahar's bowling in the 18th over. Young Priyam Garg remained unbeaten on 51 from 26 balls and his knock was included of six fours and a six. Only two Indian batsmen have scored a fifty for SRH in less than 25 balls: Yuvraj Singh (off 23 balls against RCB in IPL 2017), and Garg on Friday, who also took 23 balls to reach the 50-run mark. Courtesy of Garg's efforts, in the end, SRH reached 164 for 5 in 20 overs in the first innings.