MS Dhoni and the art of being imperfectly perfect

May 30, 1:30 am, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad – MS Dhoni has just seen Ambati Rayudu sizzle on his final IPL appearance. Rayudu’s extraordinary cameo has reduced the equation to 23 runs off 15 balls.

Dhoni, knowing that this has been his preferred habitat all his life, decides to put on his helmet and strides out to the centre. No emotion. Not even a flicker of sweat. This is what Dhoni has done all his life, and this is what he has to do to seal a fifth IPL title for his beloved Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The moment he steps onto the field, absolute bedlam ensues in Ahmedabad. The flashlights are on, the noise has reached manic proportions and then….there is a hushed silence.

Dhoni takes guard, shadow-practices a few strokes like a gladiator would normally do before battle, and sizes up the enormity of it all. The bowler up against him is Mohit Sharma, who was once a trusted lieutenant, both for the franchise and for India.

But now, he has to outwit him. Just a week ago, Mohit had trumped his former skipper. This, though, is different. Dhoni and CSK have a score to settle, especially after what happened last year.

MS Dhoni gets dismissed for a duck in the final of IPL 2023

Mohit runs up, he bowls the ball on a full length and Dhoni, in his inimitable manner, rocks onto the front foot. The veteran brings his wrists into play like he always does and jabs at it. Hard. The only problem, though, is that he arrows it straight to David Miller at extra cover.

Thousands who had turned up at the ground, making their way from Chennai and different parts of this beautiful world, are stunned. Thala is dismissed without troubling the scorers, and off the first ball.

CSK’s fate, from that moment henceforth, hangs in the balance….

***

It is one of those days in Manchester. Rain has been pelting down and has forced the 2019 World Cup semi-final into a reserve day. India are struggling and are three down in no time. Millions (or billions), though, retain hope because a certain man wearing No. 7 is yet to bat.

He grinds it out. He does not find stroke-making easy and at times, the knock looks painstaking. But he finds an able ally in Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder takes the attack to New Zealand and he almost gets India into a position where winning seems the only plausible outcome.

But then, he falls. And suddenly, the onus shifts onto Dhoni.

A ball into the 49th over, an India win seems to be written in the stars. The first ball has been banged into the track outside off stump by Lockie Ferguson, only for the former India captain to scythe it flat over deep point for a six. With India inching closer to victory, catastrophe strikes.

Dhoni, while attempting a second run, falls marginally short as Martin Guptill’s direct hit catches him out.

With that, India’s World Cup hopes take a tumble. They crash out of the competition, and Dhoni, despite scoring a half-century and taking India close, cannot get the job done.

That is the last time he ever turns out for India…..

***

Almost 15 years before that game in Manchester, Dhoni was this debonair, swashbuckling, bullish cricketer who could smash the cover off a ball. He would bat as if he owned the place and nothing would faze him. If it was in his slot, the ball would travel.

His debut, though, could not have unfolded in a worse manner. He is run out off the first ball he faces, and all the hype, the excitement and the fanfare descends into…..nothing.

All that promises, and a run-out to end it all. Dhoni finds his feet four games later but as far as debuts go, this was the worst he and India could have envisioned….

***

2006. There are just a few murmurs about T20 cricket and international teams are now actually considering playing the format bilaterally. India’s first assignment is against South Africa.

Dhoni, by then, has established himself as this belligerent batter who can tilt games his side’s way almost single-handedly. The T20 format, thus, is expected to suit him to the tee.

Guess what happens in his first knock in T20 cricket? He departs for a duck….

***

Let us now come back to the present, and to the IPL 2023 final. Once the CSK captain perishes, there is a deafening silence at the venue. There are almost a hundred thousand people in there, packing the ground to the rafters but you could hear a pin drop.

Some of disbelief. Some of disappointment. Most of realising that this may be the last time they ever see Dhoni in the IPL.

Almost all of them had come for this picture-book finish.

23 needed off 15, Dhoni would walk out, smash a couple of sixes and CSK would win at a canter. None of them, even in their wildest dreams, would have thought that the CSK skipper would get out for a duck and leave the team’s fate to chance.

But if you thought this was never on the cards, maybe you have not been following Dhoni’s career all along.

This is, lest we forget, an international career that began with a run-out, and ended with a more heart-breaking rendition. It is also a T20 journey that began with a duck and has now, perhaps, ended with a duck. Oh, and his last appearance for India and CSK could be after the game was pushed into a reserve day.

It is almost as if he is destiny’s favourite child, tempting fate to keep everything cyclical.

Despite what CSK fans might believe, Dhoni, of course, is human. And he is prone to errors. But not many, over the years, have embraced that as much as the veteran wicket-keeper. If he errs, he errs. No problem. Learn from it and not fret over it too much.

That is the beauty about him. It is not the magical finishing acts that he has produced all these years. Or the sixes that send people in the stands into absolute delirium. It may not even be the trophies he leads his teams to.

It is about how he can remain so imperfect, yet, be so perfect – almost a life lesson to everybody that being imperfect is also fine and that in striving to achieve perfection, do not lose track of what is there right in front of you.

At the end of it all, there was a flicker of emotion too as Dhoni lifted Jadeja up in the air, showing as much animation as he has ever done in the IPL. Again, a very human and emotional moment for someone considered to be completely unaffacted by it.

That is what endears him to people so much. It is like everyone sees a reflection of themselves in him – all while knowing, deep down, that no one can ever be quite like him.

He could not finish it off in style like he has done countless times for India and for CSK. But that will not define him. Dhoni has never been about the way his careers, sojourns or myriad adventures have begun and ended. It is about the journey and everything that happened in between. It has always been.