MS Dhoni’s situation at CSK reminiscent of the novel Misery where a fanatical female fan amputates her favourite writer

No offence, but MS Dhoni continuing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) seems like some sick joke Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are playing on their fans as well as the player.

Sometimes it feels like he is being blackmailed or being held hostage. How else can you explain his participation in the league year after year, when he has totally run out of steam, cutting a sorry figure at the same time?

It’s a very smart and brainy player we are discussing here. Not like S Sreesanth or Prithvi Shaw. It’s a player who is sworn by in the global cricketing circle, for his acumen behind the wicket as well as on the wicket. Whose match-finishing abilities, whose lightning-quick stumpings have become part of folklore.

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And the man in question is extraordinarily successful. He is the only captain in the world to date to have won all three ICC white-ball tournaments: 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He has led the Chennai franchise to a whopping five IPL titles. He is one of only two wicket-keeper batsmen, alongside Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, to have scored 10,000 runs or more in ODIs. Sure, this guy would know when to hang up his boots or gloves for that matter.

Last year, for the first time in history, CSK finished last (10th) in the IPL. The year before, they had finished fifth. And in these two seasons, Dhoni has kind of batted at all lower-order positions, which suggests that he has lost all confidence in his ability. The other point of view could be that he is mentoring the team, and results don’t matter to him. He is grooming players. That sounds good, like a noble cause, but there are no ensuing great results, sorry to say.

If CSK want to keep Dhoni in one capacity or another, they very well can. He could be a full-time mentor or even coach. He could be their director of cricket. There are dozens of ways CSK can make Dhoni stay. But instead, he is asked to play when he can not play. When his beard is greyer than the grey.

Again, no offence, it looks like he is being punished like a petulant child. And he has not done anything wrong. The only blemish during his long association with Chennai was when the franchise was banned for two years for indulging in betting and spot-fixing. Dhoni and several other players were understood to be in the know, but later they were given a clean chit.

Former BCCI president and former ICC chairman N Srinivasan, the owner of India Cements, which owns CSK, has a lot of explaining to do in this matter. It’s understood he has a special relationship with Dhoni. During his tenure with the BCCI, he was accused of being partial to Dhoni, letting him continue as captain despite his horrendous away Test results, whitewashes to be precise, in England and Australia in 2011-2012. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was the only big casualty from the betting and spot-fixing scandal. One wonders if Srinivasan is that lady Anne Wilkes from the novel Misery!