10 IPL final appearances (out of 14 and not 16 seasons) and 5 IPL trophies later the Captain Cool still lives to fight another day. Such is the aura of the man, who no matter in which ground of the country he stepped out to lead his team at, he snatched away the home advantage from the opponents and thus, by default, succeeded in putting them on the back seat even before a ball had been bowled. Before him, only one (super)man had managed to pull off such a stint in 2010, whom we dearly refer to as the 'God of Cricket'. If this does not speaks volume of a person's character then I don't know what would.
The post-match ceremony that followed after CSK secured its 5th IPL title, it was way past 2AM on a Tuesday morning and no wonder the spectators at the stadium wanted to go back home, having said, it would be a no-brainer to assume neither did the viewers shut off their screens and the entire nation watched the post match ceremony as eagerly (maybe more) as the last over of the IPL 2023 final, waiting for their captain to reveal his future plans. Cometh the man of the moment and he announces that he's not gonna follow the easy path and retire today (which seems to be the perfect moment to do so), he's gonna wait and he's gonna see if he has one more in him and give in his everything to come back one last time next year for his fans, 'if his body allows'. In this moment, he gained/re-gained the entire nation's respect and many more followers, one more time. He says, it would be his way of saying 'thank you' to his fans for all the love & support that they have showered on him throughout the IPL 2023 and way before that.
Nothing but respect for the man who backs his players no matter what. He gives his players the security to express themselves in the middle which in turn give themselves the freedom to do what they are really good at, with ease. And the last night was a perfect instance where this practice worked in CSK's favour. Be it CSK's 2 of the oldest soldiers, Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu, or the young lads Conway and Shivam Dube, played their roles with perfection to help secure their team a win. Not to mention, it all happened when their leader fell prey to the opponent's tactics at the most crucial time and couldn't finish the game for a change. International and national players alike, be it Shane Watson, Faf Du Plesis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Mathew Hayden and many more have at various occasions have admitted that MSD is the best captain they have played under, period.
Flashback to the time when CSK couldn't make it to the playoffs of the IPL 2020, the nation was wondering why is Dhoni not calling it a day yet, some of them went too far ahead and had the audacity to comment that he has lost his sheen as a T20 batsman, some of us even shamelessly questioned his place in the team. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, there was a bunch of his supporters, the genuine clan, and obviously the CSK management who knew his value and stood by his side, who hoped soon enough the captain cool showcases a few glimpses of his part heroics and show us one more time he's always got one more in him. Fast forward to 2023 and 2 more IPL titles later, we all know the joke's on whom now.
Sincerely,
A Dhoni Fan.
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