MS Dhoni in IPL: The journey from 2008-2017 in pictures

2012 – The near miss

CSK faltered in the finals against the Kolkata Knight Riders

Chennai purchased just one player in the 2012 auctions, Ravindra Jadeja, who was bought for a whopping $2 million, and had the services of the likes of Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Scott Styris and Tim Southee in the foreign quota, apart from the usual suspects.

Dhoni breached the 300-run mark, but could make only one fifty plus score.

It was yet another near miss for the Dhoni-led side, who got defeated in the finals to hand Kolkata Knight Riders their first IPL title. Before that, the team had barely scraped through to the playoffs, beating the RCB side, also placed fourth, on account of a better run-rate.

Dhoni sported a longer mane, a touch like his mid-2000s days

Dhoni had yet another 300-plus run season, however he managed just one fifty to his name.

2013 – Stumble in the finals, yet again

CSK stumbled yet again in the finals to hand Mumbai their first IPL title.

With the IPL 2012 done and dusted, the governing body gave each of the IPL teams an option of truncating their respective squads. CSK retained 16 of its players, and gave more importance to bulking up their domestic contingent.

Dhoni scored runs at a strike-rate of 163.

MS Dhoni led from the front, notching up 461 runs, the most by him in a single IPL season, scoring runs at an average of 42 and an astronomical strike-rate of 163. He piled up as many as four half-centuries, with a high score of 67 not out.

2013 was Dhoni’s best season with the bat in the IPL.

Dhoni also became the first captain to notch up 2000 runs in the IPL.