It was around midnight. There was a deep sigh among a sizeable portion of the crowd. MS Dhoni’s dismissal was an ominous sign not only for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who soon got knocked out of IPL 2024. The sound of that sigh travelled way beyond M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The packed stands and millions following the broadcast might just have witnessed a legend’s last waltz.
Dhoni’s track record, brand value and the franchise’s endless faith in him means another season isn’t ruled out just yet. Despite him relinquishing captaincy, CSK officials maintain that he is yet to convey more and they have left it to him to decide. But about to turn 43 in July, even the ironman has a limit of endurance. Hints of that were scattered across Dhoni’s middling season.
Despite that, his superhuman abilities took CSK close to the qualification target against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A monstrous six off the first ball of the final over sparked a familiar joy. Then there was the anticlimax. It was like his last match in India colours — the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand — where he got out after slamming a six towards the end of an unsuccessful chase.
He can still send the ball miles and make brisk runs. Stats show Dhoni’s average in IPL 2024 is 53.66 and strike-rate 220.54. Both are abnormally good, but misleading, considering that he played just 73 balls in 11 innings with seven not outs, which boosted his average. The coolest of finishers was not on strike more often because he was batting mostly at No. 8. He also came in at No. 9.
When a batter of Dhoni’s calibre goes so far down the order and becomes less useful, something doesn’t seem right. The knee surgery after leading CSK to a fifth IPL crown last year has most likely not made his ageing body durable for batting and keeping wickets for 20 overs. He is not the same force. That he is not in touch with cricket for about nine months a year makes it that much tougher.
Regardless of when he retires, Dhoni will be celebrated for what he has done for years and not for what happened over a few minutes. He may be back in the yellow dugout in some other capacity or just disappear for a while. But in the immediate aftermath of what appears to be ‘the end’, it will linger that the master of the short game signed off with a sigh and not the last laugh.
In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz
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