16 needed off the last four balls against the Mumbai Indians. It was IPL 2022. Dhoni goes six, four, two and four against Jaydev Unadkat. Wins it for CSK with nerves of steel.
16 needed off the final over against Kings XI Punjab in 2010. He smashed Irfan Pathan two sixes, a four and a brace. It was a must-win match, which took them to the semis.
30 needed from the final 12 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2017. Dhoni goes four fours and a six. Takes Rising Pune Supergiant home with another finishing masterclass.
23 needed off the final over against the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2016 for RPS, Dhoni hits three sixes and a four. Takes RPS home.
There have been many such instances where Dhoni has shown his steely nerves to take his team home. The Houdini effort that he used to pull off in his heyday. Dhoni, now 44, isn’t the same Houdini with his powers having vanished.
It happens in sports. Roger Federer went through that. Michael Schumacher did too. Dhoni is in the same boat now. Federer, the undisputed king of the Wimbledon Open, suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at the very same centre court where he used to rule once. With a record eight SW19 titles, Federer was in the hunt for a ninth when he lost to the Pole 3-6, 6-7, 0-6. The last set was 0-6 as the Swish icon could not win a game.
Schumacher, the F1 legend, many would not know in today’s time, endured a difficult time, too. Winning seven championships between 1994 and 2004, he displayed some legendary performances. The German retired in 2006 and then came back in 2010 to join a new Mercedes team, where he struggled. Not that his struggle was due to Mercedes being in a build-up mode, but also that Schumacher struggled was far away from his partner, Nico Rosberg, in the same car in those three returning years at Mercedes.
It seems similar for Dhoni. The legend who once ruled the finishes does not look the same. He has curtailed his role to just a few balls. Several times in IPL 2025, he has not come out to bat when his team needed a finisher like him, when the match was alive but not gone. He hardly turned up. Dhoni curtailed role to No.6-9. His lower-order outings were also due to a knee problem that he was dealing with. Coach Stephen Fleming clarified last year that Dhoni “can’t bat 10 overs running full stick”. But running was one of Dhoni’s major weapons, and running at full speed in the death overs is crucial to convert those ones into twos and twos into threes.
Dhoni is currently out for two weeks in IPL 2026 as he is nursing a calf issue. CSK have been caught napping for the past few years, playing old-fashioned cricket. In the last game against Punjab Kings in IPL 2026, they found a glimmer of hope for the future when Ayush Mhatre scored 73 as CSK made 209/5 but ended up losing.
When Dhoni recovers and comes back, he might be physically fresh and fit, but the toll it takes on a body in their 40s in a sport is not hard to imagine. He can still hit those maximums with his brute force. The sixes will make Chennai fans dance in joy. But, with age not by his side, Dhoni would be well aware of the limited impact he can create. The finishing master is well past his peak. Dhoni does not seem to be the Houidini for CSK anymore.
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