At the age of 42, Mahendra Singh Dhoni shows no sign of losing his passion to hit sixes and fours at will. Beneath the calm demeanour of Dhoni lies the thunderstorm, which is unleashed on the opposition team in the crucial slog over. Dhoni sports long hair, which shows that in 2004, Dhoni was reborn to bid farewell to cricket.
Dhoni is still the slog-over specialist; even a world-class fast bowler becomes clueless when Dhoni takes a stance in the slog-over. He can scoop out the most difficult yorker-length delivery for a six-over mid-on, midwicket, or mid-off area with brute force. His extraordinary focus on the point of contact lets the ball zoom out of the fence.
Dhoni has an amazing killer instinct and an iron will, which seldom bows down to pressure in any situation. In the IPL, Dhoni has set an incredible record of hitting 65 sixes off 313 balls in the 20th over of the match. Kieron Pollard occupies the second position with 33 sixes. Dhoni is going to add more sixes to his record, which will be difficult for any player to achieve.
In the IPL 2024, Dhoni, as usual, allowed youngsters to bat first and patiently waited in the drawing room for his turn. It may be a few balls to bat; it does not disturb his external calm, which hides the storm within. Dhoni did not get a chance to bat in his first two outings against Royal Challenger Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. His fans and cricket Pundits wanted him to bat at a higher order. Against Delhi Capital, Dhoni came, saw, and stole the hearts of his fans with three sixes and four fours in his 37 runs off 16 balls. In his second outing against SRH, Dhoni scored one run, not out in two balls. Against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he scored one run in three balls and did not go out. His 20 runs in four balls with three sixes against Mumbai Indians, his 28 runs in 9 balls with two sixes and three fours against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), four runs in one ball against the same LSG, five runs in three balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad and 14 runs in 11 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) shows his insatiable hunger for sixes and fours has not reduced a bit. Dhoni has played eight matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has not been out in seven of these matches so far.
A noble king delivers justice to his subjects. Dhoni gives unbound joy and a sense of pride to his fans. Nobody wants Dhoni to leave cricket because nobody knows whether there will be another Dhoni to come. Though Mahendra Singh Dhoni can’t turn the clock back, his leadership quality will inspire young Indian leaders to deliver their best in every field.
