3 times Hardik Pandya trumped MS Dhoni in the IPL 

The stirring vibes and excitement of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) is palpable. After all, in just a few hours from now, defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) will square off against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the tournament opener. The much-awaited fixture will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Both GT and CSK have two captains on opposite ends of the spectrum. While Dhoni is a true master of the game and has won his side four IPL titles, Pandya is still in the learning phase of his captaincy career.

Much to everyone's surprise, Pandya remarkably led GT to their maiden IPL title in their inaugural campaign in 2022. Pandya will certainly be looking to repeat the heroics this time around as well.

In MSD's CSK Pandya will face an uphill task to start his campaign off. Over the course of his career, however, Pandya has managed to do well against the former Indian skipper in the IPL.

Ahead of their much-awaited clash, let's take a look at the three times Hardik Pandya trumped MS Dhoni in the IPL.

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#3 GT beat CSK by 7 wickets in IPL 2022

The only time a Hardik Pandya-led side came up against MS Dhoni-led team in the IPL, the former ended up as the victors. Match 62 of IPL 2022 saw Pandya's GT defeat CSK by seven runs in Mumbai.

After CSK opted to bat first, Gujarat restricted them to just 133 in their 20 overs. While Pandya didn't take any wickets, he bowled an economic spell of 0/8. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a half-century for CSK while Mohammed Shami took a two-wicket haul for just 19 runs.

Chasing 134, GT hunted down the target rather easily in the end. Wriddhiman Saha batted throughout the innings and scored an unbeaten 67 to guide GT to a seven-wicket win. The Pandya-led unit will aim to replicate the same result tonight as well.

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#2 Pandya's 21* off 8 vs CSK in IPL 2015

Pandya hitting a six vs CSK at IPL 2015 [IPLT20]

During his debut season in the IPL in 2015, Pandya surprised everyone with what he had to bring to the table. The young lad from Gujarat announced himself across the globe when he came up with a resounding cameo to trump Dhoni-led CSK in a nail-biting encounter.

Chasing 159, MI were in deep trouble when they lost four quick wickets after a strong start by Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel. In came Pandya at No. 6 and took the game to CSK from the very first ball.

The all-rounder brushed away Dhoni's spin trap and hit three lusty maximums in his cameo of 21* (off 8) to guide MI to a much-needed win.

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#1 Pandya's match-winning contributions vs CSK in IPL 2019

Hardik Pandya after a six vs CSK [IPLT20]

Perhaps Hardik Pandya's best game versus CSK came during a league match between Mumbai and Chennai when the flamboyant all-rounder delivered with both bat and ball to hand a comprehensive defeat to Dhoni's CSK.

After Mumbai batted first at the Wankhede Stadium, they posted a total of 170 in their first innings. While Suryakumar Yadav scored a gritty 59, Pandya and Kieron Pollard finished the MI innings with a flourish. The duo added 45 runs in the last two overs, with Pandya scoring 25* (off just 8) and Pollard scoring 17* (off 7).

Pandya once again proved to be the wrecker-in-chief but this time with the ball, claiming three wickets. Before dismissing Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar, his first dismissal of the night was none other than MSD.

Deservingly, Pandya won the Player of the Match award for his all-round heroics.