It was the third ball of the 20th over, and Sam Curran had bounced Devon Conway. The ball was waist-high and Conway, well settled, played the pull shot. Tired after having batted all innings, the timing wasn’t great and Liam Livingstone was fast trying to settle under the ball. In normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have mattered if Conway was caught or not. He had done the job for the Chennai outfit and his dismissal then wouldn’t make much of a difference to his team. And yet, it mattered. Had he been out, the new batter would have been on strike. That would have meant MS Dhoni not facing the last two balls of the Chennai innings. And the millions watching would have missed out on watching him bat for those 2 balls. That’s why when the Not Out sign flashed, there was a roar. Not because Conway was not out, but more because Dhoni would be on strike with the batters having taken a single.
And as Sam Curran bowled a widish delivery a foot outside off stump, Dhoni lunged, bat horizontal and eyes firmly on the ball. He could have let it go for a wide, but why, when you could hit it for six? The moment MSD made contact, feet up in the air and his body bent at 45 degrees, the ball had one destination written all over it – beyond the rope. All of Chepauk took a second to realise what had happened, and then the roar started. By then, his fans wanted a second one. They had found their voice and wouldn’t settle for anything less. Why and how could they be satisfied with one? Dhoni did not disappoint. A low leg-stump full toss and a casual flick of the wrist. That’s all it took. The ball was in the stands in a fraction of a second, and no one wanted to give it back! Dhoni, job done, sprinted back to get ready for wicket-keeping duties, leaving his fans in awe and ecstasy.
Jaiswal the Jewel, but David Slays It
Every ball Dhoni now plays is a spectacle. Every second he is out there is an event. His fans can never have enough of him, and even away grounds have turned yellow for him this season. Eden and Jaipur are examples of what Dhoni means to Indian cricket and the IPL. The competition will be poorer without him, and may be that’s why each cameo that he plays adds to his aura and legend.
As far as international cricket is concerned, the pandemic that stalled the globe stalled Dhoni as well. The agency was taken away from him in January 2020, and his last roll of the dice wasn’t in his hands anymore. He lost control, just like we all did. There was no practice and no IPL. And it was soon apparent that there would be no World Cup in 2020. The T20 World Wup was pushed back to October 2021, which meant he would be past 40 if he stayed on. It would mean he would have to push his body for another year and a half to give himself a chance. It would mean fuelling speculation for the next 12 months. The door that was slightly left ajar was now firmly shut because of the pandemic.
As Dhoni played with his daughter Ziva, and spent time with his wife Sakshi, during lockdown, it may well be that he had made up his mind. The world’s best finisher wasn’t allowed to finish in the manner he wanted, and this wasn’t something he could either help or control.
And that’s where the IPL is like a breath of fresh air. It has allowed Dhoni the finish on his terms, and has forever been his platform.
Sport, as we all know, is never perfect and there are no retakes. Even for the greatest, there is no rewind button. In what has been a truly remarkable career, which will forever be remembered in the annals of Indian cricket, there will always be that one inch to lament. That run out in the 2019 World Cup. The ‘what if’ question will spice up cricket debates for all time to come. We will continue to argue if he would have scripted a final fairytale.
For the IPL, however, the debate has been put to rest this season. It is making for the absolute perfect finish for the perfect finisher. Close well, Mahi.