While it is almost impossible to put MS Dhoni's IPL legacy into words, Captain Cool who has now led Chennai in 250 games has had his fair share of upheavals in his 15-year-long IPL career.
From in-house disagreements to the bittersweet experience of relinquishing his esteemed captaincy to being the most expensive buy... truly, this son of Ranchi, a distinguished luminary of Indian cricket, has had a roller-coaster of an IPL journey.
Let's have a brief look at 10 of his IPL career highlights-
MSD signs Sunil Gavaskar’s shirt - 2023
It was an iconic fan moment as former India captain Sunil Gavaskar got his shirt signed by MS Dhoni during CSK’s last home match against KKR in IPL 2023. As Dhoni and his team were doing a lap around the Chepauk stadium, Gavaskar ran towards MS to get his shirt signed. Gavaskar said later that it was an emotional moment for him.
We feel you, Sunny, Paji!
Also read: TATA IPL 2023 final, CSK vs GT: Chennai crowned champions for 5th time
200th match as CSK captain - 2023
Chennai's match against Rajasthan Royals which the visitors won at the MA Chidambaram stadium was MSD’s 200th game as Chennai’s skipper. Overall it was his 214th assignment as IPL captain. He also became the first player in IPL history to captain a side in 200 matches. He joined the side in 2008 in the first edition and since then he has been part of the team for all the IPL editions in which CSK played.
The captaincy drama - 2022
Things went south between close colleagues MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, where apparently as per reports the latter was pondering on leaving the franchise last year. This happened after Jadeja had to hand back the captaincy to MS Dhoni after CSK performed poorly in the 2022 season. However, the 2 CSK stalwarts resolved the issue before the 2023 season began.
Captain Cool’s not-so-cool side- 2019
It was a never-seen-before incident as the perpetually cool MSD lost his calm and stormed onto the ground to question the umpire's no-ball decision. While he was harshly criticised for that behaviour, he was only charged a lenient 50% match fee. Former England captain Michael Vaughan went on to slam Dhoni by saying, 'You cannot be sending out that message even if you are MS Dhoni'
‘Hopefully, yes’ - 2019
The speculations around MSD's retirement had been one of the biggest talking points in IPL for the last few years. 4 years ago, when in 2019 Simon Doull asked Dhoni if he'll be playing IPL next season as well, the skipper's cheeky reply put the speculations to rest. Dhoni only responded with a 'hopefully yes' and since then he has not only participated in 4 seasons, but he also won the trophy in 2021 ( and 2023 if CSK win).
The teary-eyed captain - 2018
After being banned for a couple of years on account of a spot-fixing scandal, CSK returned in 2018. Ahead of the readmission, Dhoni, an otherwise temperamentally strong cricketer, got all emotional and struggled to complete his sentences while speaking about his team’s return to IPL.
The stellar return- 2018
It was after 6 seasons and 2 years of the ban that the MS Dhoni-led side recaptured Chennai’s lost glory as the Yellow Army won their 3rd IPL in 2018. CSK defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final by 8 wickets to clinch the 2018 title. CSK's Shane Watson emerged as the star of the show with a blazing 117* off 57 balls.
‘Steve Smith replaces MSD as skipper’ 2017
For the first time, MS Dhoni was removed from the captaincy in 2017, with Rising Pune Supergiant wanting a ‘youngster’ to lead the team instead of the Rachi-born cricketer. The captaincy duties were handed over to 27-year-old Steve Smith, who was also captaining the Australian team at that time.
Dhoni’s first IPL triumph
The 2010 win was not only their first but also their most special win. MSD's supremacy as a leader was again on display as he led a struggling Chennai to their first-ever IPL victory. Since then. Thala has won 3 more IPL editions – 2011, 2018 and 2021. In 2010 however, CSK somehow managed to qualify for the playoffs, but from there on they only rose upwards. They first defeated Deccan Chargers and then lifted the trophy by outfoxing Mumbai Indians in the epic final.
2008’s most expensive buy
On April 19, 2008, MS Dhoni, the then most expensive IPL buy made his IPL debut as the skipper of Chennai Super Kings. While Super Kings won by 33 runs against the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab, Dhoni scored only 2 runs off 3 balls. Dhoni, who had led an unfancied Indian team to a T20 World Cup victory just the previous year in 2007 was the hottest buzz in the market. Chennai, who are still holding on to the 3-time World Cup winning Indian captain after 15-long years had bought the then 26-years old for 6 crores.
