THALA SURPRISE: Which batting shot has seen MS Dhoni amp up strike rate from 152 to 250 in last two years? No, it’s not the helicopter

And yet when he skied a Yash Dayal bumper to deep backward-square and CSK went crashing out of the Playoffs race in their final game last season in Bengaluru, Dhoni would be deprived of that ‘Thala’ climax.

The farewell question is only a sub-plot as the CSK talisman enters a fresh cycle this Sunday. If anything, Dhoni’s cameos and traces of ineffective death bowling from opponents, have renewed his confidence in running another mile in the world’s most competitive T20 league.

Partly lost in CSK’s middling 2024 season was Dhoni’s effectiveness in his retrenched finishing role. Thanks to the Impact Player injection, Dhoni’s entry points were predominantly plotted around the last four overs, bread and butter in his heyday. But even at 43, Dhoni’s death-over mastery put most oppositions to the sword. A glance at the numbers and you’ll have him jostling among the best after the two quickest-scoring editions of the tournament.

Of the seven batters who have piled on at least 250 runs at the death (17-20) since 2023, Dhoni’s colossal 209.83 strike rate ranks the best, even overshadowing the South African heavyweight, Heinrich Klaasen (209.02). In the 23 innings he has played in this period, nearly 93 percent (122 of 130 balls) of Dhoni’s batting was restricted to the death. Dhoni pumped 23 of them over the fence, a maximum every 5.3 deliveries, the best of the aforementioned bracket of finishers in the two editions.

That this improbable 40s resurgence has willed itself on the back of his two poorest IPL seasons between 2020-21 (112.5 strike rate), makes the Dhoni situation more than a mere summer stopover for CSK.

Dhoni’s first six in 2024 came off a lofted cover drive. (BCCI)

The pre-season legwork has gained Dhoni access to newer parts on the field while not losing sight of his trademark slogs. Dhoni has yet to be dismissed playing the cover drive at the death in the last two seasons, turning this uncommon off-side arc into one of his most productive zones. The shot has yielded him 40 runs in 16 balls – 250 strike rate – up from 152 between 2020-22, where he was dismissed thrice playing the stroke at a lowly 10.67 average.

Combined with his amped-up control rates (percentage of shots middled) on his on-side strokes  – the pull (56.76 to 70), on-drive (82.61 to 93.75), and flick (57.14 to 100) – Dhoni’s extended ‘V’ coverage has shrunk the error margins of deliveries to blurry pixels on the pitch.

One can’t fault the seamers for not trying. The 99 deliveries of pace that Dhoni has faced in the slog overs in ‘23-24 have been carted for 219 runs, 85.5 percent of his total yield. Scattered are the deliveries across the crisscrossing lines and lengths from wide outside off, to outside the off-stump and on the wickets, with no glaring plots to exploit, either for the lack of adequately accurate attempts on a particular mark or Dhoni’s sheer tenacity.

Deliveries on the stumps have relatively toned down his aggression (SR from: 211 to 168) in 23-24 as opposed to the preceding two years. Miss this specific line and you’re immediately shelling out 60-plus runs for every 100 deliveries. Dhoni’s restrained game against spin has also not been exploited enough with his late entry-points, for teams bear minimal options to assert overall control in the last-four with the tweakers.

Inch-perfect yorkers, 12 of them, have wound him to seven runs without a dismissal in the last two seasons. If the preparatory clips on social media are to go by, Dhoni is even dusting up his old ‘Helicopter’, taking down Sri Lankan slingman Matheesha Pathirana at Chepauk.

44 in July, it will be an incredible three-peat if this semi-active cricketer pulls off the death-overs slogfest again. The pressure is still all the same at the bowling crease – hit or six!