Last Dance in Chennai

IT WAS THE 2013 Champions Trophy and Indian cricket was in the doldrums. The spot-fixing scandal had erupted a few days earlier and MS Dhoni was in the eye of the storm. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was the team implicated and things looked dire for the sport and also for Dhoni, the skip­per. India was due to go to the Champions Trophy in England a week after IPL and not many had given the team a chance. Dhoni, captain of India, thought otherwise. He knew that all it needed to change the doom and gloom was a fantastic Champions Trophy. In sport, it is always winner-takes-all, and the truth was never lost on Dhoni.

That’s where it starts to hurt. The MS Dhoni of 2025 isn’t the same player he was. He isn’t even a pale shadow. He is on borrowed time and for the sake of his own brand, it is time to call it a day. What is problematic is also the fact that he doesn’t seem the same skipper he once was. Take the game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for example. Shivam Dube, in­strumental in the CSK win, came out and said to the media at the end of the game that it was Dhoni who suggested to him that with Dube out there, LSG wouldn’t bowl the leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. He was the best bowler for them and had already picked two wickets. Given that Pant did not bowl Bishnoi and went to a fast bowler instead allowed CSK to close out the match. It was deemed a Dhoni masterstroke that in fact helped CSK win the contest.

Fast forward to the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Bengaluru. A match that Chennai literally had in the bag. Chasing 200-plus, the asking rate had been brought down to 10 an over in the last four when MS Dhoni walked out to bat joining Ravindra Jadeja. It was strange because Dube, one of the few success stories for CSK this sea­son, was still in the dugout. While the few thou­sand CSK fans were euphoric seeing Dhoni walk out, the truth is that from a strategic stand­point, it wasn’t the best call. Soon after Dhoni was out there, RCB went to Suyas Sharma, an­other leg spinner, and he bowled a tight 6-run over to make the task hugely difficult for CSK. In the end, CSK fell short by 2 runs and Shivam Dube, who stayed not out, got 3 balls to bat.

Had it been the Dhoni of 2015, it would have been the perfect call for him to walk out. He was the perfect finisher and would have closed out the game for his team and walked off. Not anymore. As captain, he would have done better to send Dube ahead to counter the Suyas threat. He did not and CSK paid the price.

At the moment, it is all very predictable.

Dhoni isn’t comfortable against spin and al­most every opposition in this IPL knows about it. The moment he steps out, they turn to either a leg spinner or a mystery spinner like Varun Chakaravarthy. And Dhoni doesn’t have answers. And that’s where it starts to hurt. This isn’t the Dhoni I am accustomed to seeing. Our perception of Dhoni is that of the winner, the master strategist or the master finisher. Not someone who labours on despite not being at his best.

Many will give the brand argument here. That Dhoni is essential for the CSK brand. The counterpoint to that is not at the cost of los­ing. There is nothing more important than win­ning in sport and even Dhoni, the cult that he is, will lose sheen as a brand if he plays on like this. Just last season, Kolkata had turned yellow for MS Dhoni when he came to the city for the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Thousands had gathered to see him train at the Eden Gardens. In fact, it was a sea of yellow and KKR fans were reduced to a complete minori­ty. This time round, it was very different. There were only a couple of hundred fans who had turned up on match eve to catch a glimpse of Dhoni. While the CSK captain did not come for training, the passion among fans was far less. In fact, there were many more present to see Virat Kohli during the inaugural match of IPL.

Dhoni the brand, too, should call time. He can indeed make himself the non-playing cap­tain for CSK and invent a position for himself. By doing so, he can be a part of all branding ac­tivities of the franchise and have a say in deci­sion-making. But as a player, it isn’t working anymore and that’s the reality.

If I am asked, I’d say that the perfect time for Dhoni to have retired was in 2023 when CSK won a record fifth title. Dhoni had played ex­tremely well and was at an all-time high as a brand. The aura was at its highest and it was all about why, and not why not. It could have indeed been the perfect finish for the perfect finisher. It wasn’t to be with Dhoni wanting to carry on. While it is understandable since retirement is the toughest decision to take, Dhoni has always been known as one who is in sync with reality.

CSK, as CEO Kasi Viswanathan said in a re­cent interview, needs to recalibrate and re­boot. They will. One of the best franchises in IPL with five titles under their belt, it is only a matter of time before they get their mojo back. And to do so, they need MS Dhoni. They need his brand and brain. But not as a play­er. I’d want to see Dhoni take on the role of coach and mentor from Stephen Fleming and also take on the running of the fran­chise to an extent. Let him ideate the auction plan and groom the next generation of play­ers. He can continue to be the face of the fran­chise and keep the sponsors in sync. But can he captain? Can he claim that he can win CSK close matches? Can he still win them match­es while chasing? Does he have the same con­fidence while facing the likes of Rashid Khan or Sunil Narine?

To go back to the 2013 Champions Trophy one more time and how Dhoni turned the tide in the final against England in Birmingham. Defending a modest 129 of 20 overs in a rain-curtailed game, Dhoni was fast running out of options with Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara on a roll. That’s when he turned, counter-intui­tively for many experts, to Ishant Sharma, who had been singled out for harsh treatment by the English. Sitting in the Edgbaston press box, we agreed it was a huge gamble: one more bad over, and it would have been curtains for India. But to everyone’s surprise, Sharma picked two wickets in two balls, and all of a sudden, India had a chance. In another inspired tactical move, Dhoni got the spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to bowl overs 19 and 20, teasing the English batsman, far more comfortable against pace, to slog and perish. It worked and gave Dhoni the only missing piece of ICC silverware for himself and India.

This is the Dhoni I have learnt to admire. The truth is we won’t see this Dhoni ever again in IPL. And that’s why it is time for the last dance.

CSKIndian cricketIPLMS DhoniShivam Dube