'Definitely not' trends on Twitter as MS Dhoni walks in CSK's last IPL 2022 fixture

By Pratyay Tiwari

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MS Dhoni
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MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Would this one be his last? That’s a question everyone has asked themselves multiple times over the last three IPL editions, with there never being a certain answer to the simple question. MS Dhoni is nearing 41, and while he is still finishing games for the Chennai Super Kings and still running enough quick between the wickets to give complex to lads half his age, that question is inevitable.

He has been queried over it by different people in different ways, and the shrewd man that he is, Dhoni often gives responses that keeps one on the edge, revealing a bit but not everything, much like how he keeps the intrigue on until the last ball in a nerve-jangling run-chase. However, with each passing year, the enigma in Dhoni’s answer has increased.

When asked two years ago by Harsha Bhogle if it was the last of him the IPL world had seen, he uttered two fairly straightforward words that would become one of the most famous cricket quotes: “Definitely not”. It was a year of historic lows for the Super Kings, who could not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in IPL history, minorly evading a wooden-spoon finish in a forgettable season.

It was a season when players of all ages and stature were seen souveniring jerseys and bats with Dhoni’s signature, suggesting that even they believed it was “the end”. “Maybe they thought I’m retiring – you know retired from international cricket, maybe I’ll retire from the shortest form also,” Dhoni quipped later.

He returned in 2021 and added a fourth IPL title to his cabinet. The question popped up again, it was bound to. What better moment to sign off? So then, the end this time? Unlike a two-worded answer, Dhoni increased the Dhoni element in his response to that query this time.

“You’ll see me in yellow next season, but whether I’ll be playing for CSK you never know,” Dhoni had told Danny Morrison. Ever since his start of the IPL, Dhoni has been inseparably attached to the franchise and the city Chennai. And his waning performances have made no impact on his fandom or likeability, with the decibel levels soaring every time he has made a walkout in the middle.

Perhaps, no one explained the CSK-MSD bond better than N Srinivasan: “Dhoni is part and parcel of CSK, Chennai and Tamil Nadu. There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK.” When asked about his legacy after a fourth titular triumph, Dhoni had responded cheekily: “But still, I haven’t left [it] behind!”, hinting at a return in 2022. And he did.

CSK have had one of their worst seasons this year, with Dhoni giving the captaincy hat to Ravindra Jadeja before taking it midway through. However, a string of losses at the start had left CSK with too much to catch up in a ten-team tournament, of the reckoning of which they stood knocked out quite early.

But what of the fans? At the moment, the bigger question is Dhoni and his future. The ‘is it the end’ question keeps making its way back into the discussion. His supporters, meanwhile, are sure that it’s “definitely not” the end, at least not just yet.

 

 

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