I was at Bhubaneswar airport in April 2023 when MS Dhoni walked out with just a few balls left of the CSK innings against LSG at the Chepauk. The television set in front of boarding Gate 1 on the ground floor, which till then had no takers, was all of a sudden the object in demand. Each one who did not have their mobiles open to Jio Cinema had queued up in front of the TV. In fact, the crowd was all of a sudden bigger than the queue in front of the security check. All wanted a piece of Mahi.
“Why did he not come earlier?”, a kid asked his father as Dhoni was walking out. Many at the Chepauk must have asked the same question. Why Jadeja and not Dhoni? Maybe MSD had decided that he will play these impact cameos in that IPL. Mahi maar raha hai, yet again, was reverberating all over India.
The difference between CSK and LSG at the end was 12 runs. MSD had hit two sixes in his 3 ball stay at the wicket. It was his two sixes that had eventually won the game for his team!
Over the years, MSD has done it again and again. In many close encounters, he has just walked out to bat and taken the game away from the opponent’s grasp. The most famous of them is the 2011 world cup final when much to everyone’s surprise, he promoted himself in the batting order ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina — and took India home.
He is a winner and that’s what defines the MSD cult. And that’s what disappointed me when he walked out to bat at number 9 last night. Surely it was not Ruturaj’s call. It had to be his and the question is why?
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He is MS Dhoni, one of the greatest match winners cricket has seen. Why will he come so low and not give himself the chance to win the game for his team? If he can score 30 of 16, why not come in earlier and give it a shot? He could indeed get out cheaply but at least his fans can go back with the memory that their hero tried. The same cameo 5 overs earlier would have made a lot more sense for CSK.
MSD has always been about clarity of thinking. The ability to think on his feet and soak pressure in tight situations served him well as a leader. Almost irrespective of the match situation, Dhoni is a step ahead of the competition. And that’s what we did not see last night. Against RCB, it was as if he had resigned himself to accept defeat. And that’s what I have an issue against.
All his career, his mind was matchless. But even beyond the gifts of mind and body or leadership, the man stands for, and is driven by, a certain process-based work ethic which knows how to win. That’s why he is who he is. A winner. Some at the Chepauk may have loved the cameo he played last night. I did not. It wasn’t the MSD who fired our imagination. Not the Thala we know. As I said, Dhoni is a winner. In cricket and in life. He has never given up. Last night he did.
Also Read: CSK VS RCB, IPL 2025: MS Dhoni’s stumping brilliance stuns RCB fans at MA Chidambaram