It’s the 2010s. Crowds are flocking the stadiums in India during the Indian Premier League. Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders are arguably the two best teams in the league. And, KKR have a happy knack of restricting the opposition to paltry totals before hunting them down convincingly.

On one such hypothetical occasion against CSK, KKR reduce them to 50-5. Most of CSK’s top batters have departed and it seems only a miracle can save them. The 2010 IPL champions, who are often a picture of pragmatism, don’t really believe in miracles. But they do believe in an individual named MS Dhoni.

The wicket-keeper walks into this particularly perilous situation. He assesses the debris around him and then goes about his business calmly. At the start of his innings, there are no fancy strokes. There are nudges, nurdles and hard-handed jabs – strokes that don’t fetch him runs but illustrate that he is struggling to rotate strike.

As the final few overs approach, CSK, despite having their talisman at the crease, appear to have hit a submerged log. Almost their entire fan base panics. Some ask why the assault hasn’t arrived yet. Some even dare to question if Dhoni has gotten his tactics wrong. But Dhoni, in his almost inimitable avatar, soaks everything. And then, he cuts loose – in a manner not many can.

CSK post a competitive total on the board and on a tricky track, that proves to be enough. An age-old formula, that was questioned at almost every juncture, rings true again and life is good – at least if you are a CSK fan.

Fast forward nearly a decade and CSK find themselves in a similar predicament against KKR. A lot has changed, though. Dhoni is no longer the captain. Stadium capacity is only at 25 per cent. And, of course, Dhoni is not the force he once was.

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But when he strides out to bat with CSK tottering at 61-5 in 2022, there is still hope. Cricketing logic and wisdom tells the franchise’s faithful to probably switch off their television sets and hope for a better showing in their next game. Yet, the hopeless romantic long to catch a tiny glimpse of prime-Dhoni.

Not to see what he is capable of now, but to remind themselves what he was once capable of, and somehow stumble upon a middle ground where his new-found shortcomings are blended in with the traits that he has made his own over the years. To an extent, their thirst is quenched. Dhoni, as has become the norm, takes a lot of time at the start of his innings. Initially, he seems to be picking the length a little later than what would be ideal. Against Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy in particular, he fences at deliveries that ought to have been met with something more forceful.

The veteran crawls to 15 off 25 balls at a strike rate of 66.66, which would even seem archaic in ODI cricket nowadays. But then, as Dhoni ventures into his preferred habitat (overs 18-20), it starts falling into place beautifully. Off the first ball of the 18th over, the wicket-keeper picks the length especially well. Dhoni sits back in his crease and scythes Andre Russell past point for four. A few balls later, he waits for Russell to err onto his pads before whipping it past deep backward square leg. The final ball sees Dhoni, in slightly streaky fashion, edge the ball past short third man for four.

By then, though, it wasn’t about the shots that Dhoni was nailing. Instead, it was all about how he was finding the groove many felt had deserted him altogether. Shivam Mavi was next in line. While he didn’t help himself by bowling a waist-high full-toss, the lofted extra cover drive the former CSK captain executed was a thing of beauty. In the 20th over, Russell was subjected to a trademark shovel that flew past deep mid-wicket, and a pull that reminded everyone that Dhoni still had the fastest hands in the East.

More importantly, however, this onslaught came about after Dhoni had seemingly hit a batting nadir. It also came at a time when Ravindra Jadeja, who was appointed CSK captain a couple of days ago, was struggling and was beginning to feel the pressure. Throughout their partnership, there were chats between the two CSK stalwarts. Whenever Jadeja swung like a rusty gate (and missed), Dhoni would walk up to him and tell him to remain calm. The wicket-keeper might have even said to Jadeja that he needn’t worry about anything else as long as he (Dhoni) was at the crease.

It didn’t lead to a CSK victory and a case could be made that Dhoni and Jadeja were too lackadaisical for too long in the middle overs. In whatever team meetings CSK have, this might be a point of discussion as well. Deep down, though, Jadeja and the franchise would be thrilled that their former skipper was back among the runs.

Not because they expect him to keep churning out the kind of displays he did in the 2010s. But because Dhoni – the batter, who has a habit of standing toe-to-toe with adversity, will only help Jadeja – the captain, ease into his role. At the moment, Jadeja and CSK have plenty on their plate. The all-rounder wants to stamp his own authority on the team while having to step out of Dhoni’s shadow. He also seeks to retain whatever good the franchise has done over the years, while sprinkling it with new-found enthusiasm and ideas.

From that perspective, Dhoni’s runs could be paramount in Jadeja establishing a foothold as captain. From the wicket-keeper’s standpoint, however, it was a gentle reminder that the finisher might not be finished just yet.

Considering the amount of cricket he plays these days, it would be absurd to expect him to keep producing such performances on a regular basis. If anything, these will, till his IPL career winds down, be the glorious aberrations. But Dhoni – the batter has never been only about runs. It is the aura, the bravado and the confidence associated with him. It might not be what it was in the 2010s. Yet, it can be just enough for CSK to tick along for another season.