IPL 2018: MS Dhoni and the art of the heroic run-chase

Chennai Super Kings need 97 runs from 48 balls against Kings XI Punjab in the 12th game of the Indian Premier League.

36-year-old MS Dhoni is lying flat on the ground, having pulled his lower back when completing a second run. The physio is offering him a massage, attending to the ravaged back that has endured many an injury over the years. Dhoni is on 21 off 17 balls. The required run-rate has tipped over 12 an over.

Dhoni’s batting partner, Ambati Rayudu, is on 40 off 28 balls. Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo yet to come. But it is clear as day that CSK’s best chance of victory is incumbent upon Dhoni staying till the end. There is a view that his powers as a T20 finisher are on the wane. But who can discount a Dhoni special? Who can dare write off the ultimate finisher?

Ashwin concedes just six runs in the 13th over. Barinder Sran follows up with a terrific over that also goes for six, which includes Rayudu being dismissed via a direct hit.

CSK need 85 from 36 balls, and the asking rate is at 14.16.

Surely Dhoni has to explode at some point soon? We know he likes to take games to the last over – backing himself to score 20-plus if needed – but with the asking rate near 15, he also needs some big overs leading up to that. He is constrained by a sore back and cannot hurry through for twos the way he normally does. Perhaps he is waiting to target a specific bowler, to launch a string of boundaries and release the pressure. Or maybe he has asked Jadeja, at the other end, to go for broke.

Dhoni slams a big six off Ashwin in the 15th over: a loud and powerful statement. The eruption is here, he seems to be implying. Except… it isn’t. There is no other big hit in the over, and neither batsman finds a boundary in the over that follows.

CSK now need 67 off 24. Asking rate is at a whopping 16.75.

Andrew Tye bowls the 17th over. Dhoni limps through for a single before slamming him for a four through long-off. Jadeja finishes the over with another four. Good shots, yes, but are they enough?

CSK need 55 from the final three overs. Improbable, yes. But, with Dhoni out in the middle, far from impossible.

Given how the former Indian skipper approaches run-chases, this is perhaps exactly where he wants the game at the moment. The longer CSK stay within striking distance, the more pressure the opposition bowlers will come under. And from this point, any long-hop will disappear for six, any misdirected yorker will fly away into the stands, any length-ball will be dispatched into orbit.

Bowlers could lose their cool and spray a wide. Some over-ambitious fielder may offer an over-throw. Having absorbed all the pressure so far, Dhoni is ready to transfer it onto the bowlers and fielders.

Mohit Sharma is carted for a four and two sixes in the 18th over. CSK pick 19 off it. And leave themselves needing 36 off 12.

Tye is back for the 19th over.

Dhoni takes a single off ball one. Jadeja falls in ball two. Then comes the cloudburst and a shower of boundaries – six, four, two, six – the last one is a single-handed whip over square-leg, finishing on his knees at the end of the swing. Dhoni is increasingly looking like a hobbling hero in the final scene of a masala flick: exhausted and bloody but far from beaten.

So it boils down to 17 off the final over. This is already a triumph for Dhoni. CSK have cut down the target from an imposing 97 off 48 balls – that too with Dhoni’s back in a mess. They have managed to retain wickets through it all and given themselves the best chance of pulling off yet another heist.

And therein lies the allure of Dhoni in the shorter formats: he is that cinematic hero who waits for a gang of villains – their knives sharpened, their guns focused and their eyes menacing – to encircle him and steady themselves to knock him over. He urges fans to retain their faith in him – for hasn’t he pulled off such robberies before? Didn't he shred Irfan Pathan for 16 in an over to beat Kings XI Punjab eight years ago? Didn't he blast Sri Lanka for 15 in the final over in a tournament final in 2013?

To root for Dhoni is to stay with him till the final ball of the game. Win or lose, you know that he will do everything to hang in there till the climax. Even if it means taking a single off the first ball of the last over. Or declining a run. Or bringing the equation to 11 off three balls. One still hopes for the unthinkable. One still hopes for Dhoni to swing the impossible swing, to swat the perfect yorker for six and to sneak through the greatest run-chase. There will be days when he will fall short – and Sunday was one – but he will ensure we are thoroughly entertained.

And in the end, isn’t that all that matters?

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