It was the last ball of the 17th over in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) innings on Monday the 8th of April 2024. Shivam Dube had just been bowled out the previous delivery. Chepauk Stadium in Chennai waited in anticipation, expecting their biggest hero to come out to deliver the coup de grace, to score the remaining 4 runs, needed for victory against the till then unbeaten Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
The score stood at 3 for 135 for CSK, they had 19 balls to overtake KKR’s total of 137 and to do so the next batter, who appeared at the side lines, all padded up and ready to go in was Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja almost walked onto the field, about to cross the rope he turned around and made his way back, a big smile on his face. The CSK fans collective leg was being pulled before their expectations were met.
Soon their Thala walked out to join the CSK captain Rituraj Gaikwad at the crease. M S Dhoni had made his appearance at the crease, to grant an audience to his fawning fans. Chepauk exploded in a burst of pleasure so loud that, KKR’s West Indian sensation, Andre Russel fielding near the ropes, had to hold on to his ears, to cut out the deafening noise.
Dhoni faced 3 balls and scored 1 run before Rituraj Gaikwad hit a boundary and brought the curtains down on what had essentially been a one-sided meeting of giants. Even this 5 odd minute glimpse was enough for the CSK fans, they were happy to have been there to see their hero wave his bat around.
Heroes in Chennai have always had a larger-than-life presence, and it never does matter where they come from as long as they champion the local cause. Gaga messages on social media sites reiterated CSK fans love and obsession for the cricketing great from Jharkhand who had adopted their team from day one of its founding in 2008.
Thala, or leader/head in Tamil, is what Mahendra Singh Dhoni is called. Clad in the yellow colours of his franchise Dhoni’s presence has been the dominating one in the fortunes of CSK. As captain he had led them to win 5 IPL titles handing over the baton to Rituraj Gaikwad in 2024.
In 2023, when Dhoni decided to turn Tollywood producer, he gave a short speech in Tamil reiterating his special connection with Chennai. Dhoni said “My test debut happened in Chennai, my highest test score is in Chennai, when it comes to cricket a lot of things happened which I am proud of, it happened in Chennai. Not to forget, once IPL started in 2008, I was adopted by Tamil Nadu.”
No wonder then that the yellow wave of CSK idolises him as the head of their cricketing glory and refer to him only by his sobriquet of Thala – leader.
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