Drama and lots of runs, but only one man dominates IPL 2023 — MS Dhoni

You wouldn’t be mistaken if you thought this year’s IPL was a farewell tour for the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

A tournament that, when leaving aside the money, the sponsors (who have to get a shout out every over), the commentators screaming, Kevin Pietersen asking questions that he then answers himself, Matthew Hayden’s faux philosophy and yes, of course, all that money, it is still about cricket. But 2023 has also been all about Dhoni. 

Now 41, Dhoni has been the central figure in Indian cricket for the better part of two decades; from the “helicopter shot” to the shampoo ads (back when he had shoulder-length hair) and the macho bike rides. He’s led India to a couple of World Cup titles as well and on Monday night captained the Chennai Super Kings to a fifth IPL championship. 

That marquee occasion was delayed by one day because of rain, but even though the final finished after 1.30am Tuesday (Indian time), it was still an event, marked by the number of yellow shirts in the stands at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad — the home venue of Chennai’s opponents, the Gujarat Titans. Dhoni didn’t score any runs, his team conceded more than 200 runs and needed a miraculous final intervention from his chief lieutenant Ravi Jadeja to get the win. 

But reports and rumours that this could be Dhoni’s last year saw hundreds of thousands come to venerate him across the 12 cities where the tournament was played. That Dhoni deserved it, is without question. He has made India realise what it is to win and helped create a generation of Indian players who don’t take a backward step, all while being just too darn cool.

In fact he enjoyed it all so much that in the aftermath of the final, he was talking about coming back for one more next year. His body, he said, would determine that decision.

IPL 2023 saw the tournament return in a proper manner. Home and away clashes after the Covid-19 pandemic saw it move to the UAE in 2021, while last year it was located in a handful of cities in India. 

In between the Dhoni love-fest, with the 50-over World Cup taking place in India later this year, the overseas players have glimpsed some of the venues that may be in use for that tournament. 

Of course with no schedule confirmed for that event yet, it’s been a case of absorbing as much as possible from numerous venues just in case. The surfaces this year have heavily favoured batters, with 36 totals over the 200-run mark. Six batters have posted aggregates of more than 600 runs including Faf du Plessis, who for most of the tournament was its leading run-scorer.

Du Plessis’s output at the top of the order for the Bangalore Royal Challengers understandably led to some excitable calls for his inclusion in the Proteas squad for the 50-over World Cup.

However, both he and national men’s team’s white ball coach Rob Walter quickly quashed that talk, though the volume on it will most likely be turned up again closer to the competition.

Aside from Du Plessis, South African players made a relatively small impact on the IPL. Heinrich Klaasen scored a century and was the best batter for a Sunrisers Hyderabad team that finished bottom of the table, David Miller’s flame flickered out after a hot start, Aiden Markram battled to balance his batting and the requirements of captaincy, while Quinton de Kock inexplicably went unused for the playoffs. 

There wasn’t much in terms of bowling, with Marco Jansen inconsistent, as was Wayne Parnell. While concern was expressed about Kagiso Rabada, it is probably worth recalling that playing in the IPL has previously proven costly for him and the Proteas at the World Cup, because he’s had such a heavy workload — that won’t be the case this year.

This year’s tournament has felt bigger and the fact that important talks about the World Cup were taking place on the sidelines of the final in Ahmadabad, tells you all you need to know about the IPL’s status. It is the most important event on the cricket calendar, whether we like it or not. No tournament brings in more money than the IPL and its influence — already writ large across the schedule through owners running teams in other country’s T20 Leagues — like the SA20 — will only get bigger should it expand to 12 teams as is often mooted. 

While that may be better for Indian cricket, it certainly isn’t for the rest of the world. Not that India seems to care, right now it’s all about pocketing more money and yes, singing the praises of the Dhoni.