Can Dhoni end it with one Final Hurrah?

As we head into the finals, a story possibly more significant than the game lingers at the back of every CSK fan's mind. Is this it? Is a 16-year journey where Captain Cool has led them to the highest of highs and lowest of lows coming to an end? If yes, does it end in heartbreak or triumph, surrounded by thousands of his fans as they cheer him on to finish on a high? 

To understand this journey, we have to go back all the way to 2008. In the 2008 auction CSK would bid $1.5 million for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's services as captain, making him the highest-paid player of the original IPL. It was a signing that they reap benefits of to this day. Chennai has a habit of adopting stars as their own, even though the city is not their hometown. MG Ramachandran was one, Rajnikanth was one, and in 2008, Dhoni was on his way to joining this group of legends. Instead, Dhoni-Mania went up and over. 

For the two months of the year when the IPL runs, the loudest chant in every stadium is "Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni." Doesn't matter where they play. Whether it be in Delhi facing the Delhi Capitals, or in Wankhede where they take on fierce rivals Mumbai Indians (match-ups are called IPL's El-Clasico), a sea of yellow shirts permeates the stands, all supporting the Chennai Super Kings.

It would not be too bold to assume that Dhoni built CSK. As the first-ever player in franchise history, it is hard to imagine where the team would be without him. His squad-building skills are brilliant, and his ability to get the best out of players is second to none. Shivam Dube is a prime example. In the 24 games he played before joining CSK in 2022, he scored 399 runs at an average of 19.99 and a strike rate of 120.54. Subpar numbers from an allrounder who does not bowl. In the 2 years he has spent at CSK, Dube scored 675 runs at an average of 29.34 and a strike rate of 157.74. His numbers have skyrocketed this last couple of years, and so much of it has to do with his change in role and his ability to freely play his game, all that originate with Dhoni.

Dhoni is the heart and soul of this team. He is the coach on the field and is a master tactician who can do what he wants. Unorthodox fields, batting lineup changes to throw off the bowlers, rotating his bowlers and bowling them out, he has found ways to win even as the underdog. Very rarely has Dhoni ever had the better team in the finals. The 2018 team was called Dad's Army, the 2021 team had just placed 7th the year before, marking the first year they did not qualify for the playoffs, and this year's team had again finished in the bottom half last year. Yet he has willed his players to perform when the spotlights are the brightest, and his players have delivered. The faith that Dhoni has in his players is extraordinary. He has picked players that have been "discarded" by their teams and reinvented them to perform for him. He is the longest-tenured player of CSK and even the IPL, with the final marking his 250th game. He has accomplished everything he possibly can, and has paved the way for so many young players to represent their country.10 finals, 4 IPL titles, there is nothing more that Dhoni can give to CSK as a player except 1 more title to tie MI on the leaderboard. 

So is this it? 16 years of wins and losses, triumphs and heartbreaks, joys and cries, and it all boils down to possibly his last game as a cricketer on the biggest stage in India. Can the team rally around him to give him the retirement he deserves? Or does this one too come outside the cricketing season like he retired from international cricket? Only time will tell.