The celebrated commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted an apology to fans through a tweet after mistakenly referring to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend MS Dhoni as Chinna Thala. The Indian stalwart is nicknamed Thala, which means ‘leader’ or ‘head’ in Tamil, and a title he earned after leading CSK for several years. Suresh Raina, on the other hand, is called Chinna Thala – meaning deputy or second-in-charge, which he earned by scoring a truckload of runs for the franchise.
The incident occurred during Match 67 of the IPL at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the five-time champions CSK defeated Gujarat Titans (GT). Bhogle later clarified that the mix-up was unintentional and explained that he had been talking about Raina, who is known as ‘Chinna Thala’.
“My bad with the “Chinna Thala” reference. We were talking about Raina a little while earlier. Apologies to the original #ChinnaThala @imRaina,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the post-match presentation in Motera.
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Dhoni undecided on IPL retirement
Meanwhile, during the post-match presentation, the former Indian skipper admitted that he would not say he would be back, but also said he is not done yet. He mentioned that the team had decided to bat second, but he felt that batting first would have been the better option. Dhoni also assured that Ruturaj Gaikwad need not worry about next year, meaning the latter will be back as the captain for the Chennai-based side.
“I am not saying I am done, not saying I am coming back. I have the luxury of timing. Will think about it and then decide. When we started the season, the four games were in Chennai. We decided to bat second, but I felt the wicket was good for batting in the first innings. I was worried about the batting department. We can put runs on the board, but a few holes to fill. Ruturaj doesn’t need to worry about too many things next season. He will fit into one of those roles. You feel old. He is exactly 25 years younger than me, that makes me feel I am old,” MS Dhoni said in the post-match presentation.
