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While common sense tells you that switching to a mentor’s role (he will be 44 next year) would be the most natural transition, such a possibility has been proved wrong at least for the last two seasons after Dhoni was given a tumultuous farewell across all venues in the 2023 season when the yellow shirts last won the title. No prizes for guessing that 2023 would have been the most opportune moment for him to call it quits as a player, but that’s the importance of MSD in the IPL ecosystem as well as his team management.

Talking of performance, there are different sets of rules for him and the rest, as the once feared finisher’s batting prowess has clearly nosedived over the last few years, though Dhoni has maintained his alacrity behind the stumps. His decision to come down the batting order, anywhere between nos. 7 and 9 so that he could bat for a minimum number of overs, has come in for severe criticism. It assumed such proportions that at one stage of the league, head coach Stephen Fleming admitted that it’s due to the dodgy knee that Dhoni was not in a position to take the hard singles and bat for longer phases.

Dhoni, on his part, stressed on his own ‘hunger’ rather than ‘performance’ in future. ‘’There’s no hurry to decide as to what needs to be done. Every year it’s 15 per cent more effort to keep the body fit. It’s not always performance that you can count because if cricketers start retiring for their performances, a few of them would retire at 22. What is more important is how much hunger you have, what kind of fitness you have, and how much you can contribute to the team,’’ he said.

Such a stance, however, has confounded former cricketers, most of them his peers. Former left-arm spinner Murali Kartik told Cricbuzz: “As much as the world loves Dhoni and as much as certain things we don’t want to end, a day has to come when they have to go. Sometimes what happens is that you don't want to be pushed, isn’t it? Sometimes, you don't want even the ones who love you to actually say, ‘you have overstayed your welcome’. Even if it’s MS Dhoni or whoever, just think about it.”

In another discussion, former internationals Aakash Chopra and Suresh Raina were at loggerheads on Dhoni. Chopra, a former Test opener, argued: ‘’If M.S. Dhoni wasn’t an uncapped Indian, would he have been part of the CSK team this year?’’ Raina, a trusted deputy of Dhoni during CSK’s glory days, hits back: ‘’Absolutely, he has been with the team for 18 years. Even now, he hits the most sixes.’’

There’s no doubt that for a performer of Dhoni’s stature, there will be occasions when muscle memory will take over and he will pull off a much-needed six, or assume the role he played in taking CSK over the line against Kolkata Knight Riders in an away game at Eden. His tally of 196 runs at an average of 24.50 and a strike rate of 135.20 may be acceptable for a lower order batter, but is it enough?