MS Dhoni loses two out of first three games in IPL 2020 – Has it happened before?

MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have suffered their second straight loss in IPL 2020 on Friday. After the loss to Rajasthan Royals by 16 runs in Sharjah, Chennai Super Kings suffered a 44-run loss to Delhi Capitals. This was their first loss to the Delhi Capitals since IPL 2018 in the match at the Arun Jaitley stadium. After the superb start against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, the two back-to-back losses have put Chennai Super Kings in fifth spot and out of the top four in a very long time.

Following the loss, fans lashed out on Twitter saying that Chennai Super Kings were not even trying to win. Once again, in two consecutive games, MS Dhoni had left it too late and this time, superior death bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje ensured that Chennai Super Kings would not even come close. However, one has to really strain their memory to figure out when was the last time MS Dhoni lost two out of his first three games.

Is this the first time that MS Dhoni’s team has lost two out of the first three games? Not really. The answer is two times and that too it has a strange connection. It is connected with a leap year. MS Dhoni suffered losses in two out of the first three games in IPL 2016 and IPL 2012.

Horror for Pune and CSK

In IPL 2016, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned for two years due to the spot-fixing scandal. In their place, two new teams of Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions took their place. MS Dhoni was in command of Rising Pune Supergiant and they started their campaign brilliantly by beating Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at the Wankhede stadium. However, after that, they lost their next two games against Gujarat Lions and Kings XI Punjab by seven and six wickets respectively. The campaign did not get any better for Rising Pune Supergiant as they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders by close margins.

They managed to break the losing streak when they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad but it was a poor tournament for them as they finished in seventh spot, narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon to Kings XI Punjab.

In IPL 2012, MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings were the defending champions but they started their tournament on a poor note. In their first game against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings lost by eight wickets in their Chepauk fortress but they recovered to win the second game against Deccan Chargers by 74 runs. However, they lost to Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets. It was an inconsistent start for Chennai Super Kings but they recovered in style to reach the final where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.

MS Dhoni is facing a similar situation in IPL 2020 and Chennai Super Kings would be hoping that they bounce back in style for the remaining games.