MS Dhoni steps down and into the endgame, leaving behind an unmatched legacy

March 4, 2024. MS Dhoni, casually, puts out a Facebook post, wherein he cannot hide his excitement for the upcoming IPL season. He also says he is looking forward to a new ‘role’. Social media, understandably, goes into overdrive, trying to figure out what it is, only to find out it was a prelude to an advertisement.

The excitement dies down. Chennai Super Kings fans who feared he might retire before the start of the season, are overjoyed. Cricket fans, who long to see the wicket-keeper bat higher up the order again, are disappointed. Back to business as usual.

Two weeks later…

Social media is again sent into a tizzy. Not because the 42-year-old is smashing the ball to all parts in practice sessions, but because he has not travelled for a pre-tournament photoshoot. Is he unwell? Has his knee injury flared up again? If so, will he play against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of IPL 2024?

Across two social media posts (one by the IPL handle; the other by the Chennai Super Kings franchise), it becomes clear why Dhoni has not made this trip. Yes, it is because he is no longer the captain of CSK. Rub your eyes again, pinch yourself but the statement will remain the same: Dhoni is no longer CSK captain.

If you look at what he has achieved for the franchise, even a statue outside Chepauk might not seem enough. On paper, he has five IPL titles, two Champions League T20 trophies and multiple playoff appearances. But like it is with Dhoni the cricketer, Dhoni the captain goes far beyond any numbers or statistics.

His CSK captaincy career can be encapsulated through moments. Each of those gave out the same message. That you must believe and try to do as best as you can with what you have. No matter what. And because they came in such different circumstances, it only reinforced that as long as you trust yourself and your ability, things will be fine.

Let’s go back to Dharamsala.

The year is 2010. CSK have made two playoffs but have not won the title yet. This season, they are in real danger of not making the top four. In the foothills of the Himalayas, though, Dhoni finds a moment. A moment of pure magic.

Legend says that the two balls he deposited over the stands are still seeking a destination in the mountains. But by hitting those two sixes, he made CSK believe. He made the fans believe. And he made his team believe. That night in Dharamsala, changed CSK forever.

Now to 2018.

After the dark hours of 2016 and 2017, which saw CSK being suspended, they are back. And they are back with what many are calling the Dad’s Army. Dhoni himself is quite emotional having not represented his beloved franchise for two years.

Behind that emotion, though, is a steely determination. Players above 30 may be classified as old, but what they do have is experience. Experience to not worry about these things. And even if they did, all they had to do was look at their captain, who from the moment the team was formed, knew they could go all the way.

And so they did. With almost every member of their squad playing a crucial role at some stage in the season.

Two years later…

COVID-19 has ravaged the world. The IPL, after a bit of a delay, has managed to eke out a tournament. CSK struggle in the UAE. They huff, they puff and only finish seventh in an eight-team event. The playoffs are missed for the first time ever.

But their captain is not fazed. He knows his team has not performed to its potential. No panic, though. Just a quiet statement that CSK will bounce back next year, because that is what they always do. And that is exactly what they do. In another break-filled IPL season, CSK are crowned champions.

After the depths of 2020, comes the crescendo of 2021, and one word shines through again: belief.

A similar story unfolds in 2022. The mega auction has taken many of CSK’s players away. Dhoni has also handed over captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja. It does not work well for either party, and it ends with the wicket-keeper being handed over the reins again, mid-season.

Rifts, dressing room unhappiness and many other such allegations are thrown around. So, fittingly, Jadeja wins CSK the IPL final in 2023. That, as things stand, will remain Dhoni’s last game as captain for CSK, and it finished with the veteran holding Jadeja aloft in a display of emotion rarely seen.

The 2023 campaign was also about several players punching above their weight. Ajinkya Rahane batting at a strike rate of more than 170, Shivam Dube making opposition spinners duck for cover, Tushar Deshpande bagging more than 20 wickets, Matheesha Pathirana reincarnating as prime Lasith Malinga – the list is endless.

The common thread in each of these instances was how the franchise continued to believe, even when it was easier to not believe, and how they, irrespective of the challenge they faced, kept their cool and maintained clarity. And, of course, how they always tried to make the most of what was at their disposal, rather than cribbing over what they did not have.

---

MS Dhoni steps down as CSK captain ahead of IPL 2024

Dhoni, thus, can be very proud of the legacy he has left behind as skipper. The sort of legacy that does not rely on just numbers and statistics. Instead, defining a franchise and personifying everything they stand for. Class, grace, humility – all packaged together with an undying competitive edge, and the ability to always look at the bigger picture.

That is what this decision also is. In the short term, it might lead to disappointment because millions were waiting for Dhoni to captain CSK one last time. He could have just rocked up, enjoyed himself, batted maybe more than last year and given the fans the “gift” of watching him in the flesh across two and a half months.

In the long run, this gives CSK a chance to plan ahead of what is likely to be a mega-auction before the 2025 season. Dhoni, despite fans claiming otherwise, will not be around forever. And as fearful as they may be right now, they will have to plan for life post-Dhoni at some point.

This decision, just a day before the IPL begins, is Dhoni in a nutshell. No song and dance. No asking the world to celebrate his achievements as captain. No credit-seeking. No shouting at the top of his voice that CSK is what it is because of him.

Just a three-paragraph franchise statement, and that is it. Thank you very much.

Because he is Dhoni, this will not go away quietly. But because it is Dhoni, it has been done in the quietest manner possible. Read those two sentences together, and it may not make sense. Read between the lines of those two sentences, and it makes all the sense in the world.

There is no way whoever succeeds Dhoni will not be under pressure. He is, arguably, the greatest captain the IPL has ever seen. But having done it this way, Ruturaj Gaikwad just has one pre-tournament day to worry about before the cricket takes over.

Tomorrow, when he will walk out for the toss at Chepauk, there will be a cacophony of noise. A sea of yellow. A sense of pride because Gaikwad has only ever turned out in yellow in the IPL. He is not a Chennai lad per se, but he is a Chennai lad through and through. Much like Dhoni became over the years.

What it also tells you is that this is the endgame. Long hair, stepping down as captain, identifying a succession plan. Maybe he will also bat at No.3. Who knows.

Dhoni does, though, and he will probably have mapped out every minute detail. And when the time is right, either he or the franchise, through another three-paragraph statement, a missed photoshoot, or maybe an Instagram video, and by sending social media into a tizzy, would let us know.