New Delhi: Even after winning five IPL championships and three ICC trophies, MS Dhoni and, more importantly, his leadership, are still a mystery. When Dhoni plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, he still has plenty of new tricks in his arsenal, enough to confound opponents every year despite his longtime retirement from international cricket.

How else can you explain someone repeatedly mounting a comeback in the face of impossible odds? The last three times CSK won the IPL, Dhoni did it. After serving a two-year suspension, Dhoni's CSK won the IPL 2018 and defended their title.

Dhoni led CSK to their fourth IPL victory and repeated the feat last month, three seasons after his team had missed the IPL Playoffs for the first time ever. Dhoni can't quit being amusing.

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Every season, when more young people try to make an impression with new ideas and methods, Dhoni's smart captaincy skills continue to outperform them by a wide margin. For instance, this year during CSK's match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Venkatesh Iyer was left completely clueless by a Dhoni masterstroke. Iyer recalls playing against Dhoni, how his dismissal left him speechless, and really having a word with MSD about it.

"I and one more guy was batting. There were two fielders on the off-side – a short third man and covers. Everything was fine before he just called a fielder and placed it the other side. The very next ball went the exact same way and he was out caught. He could have had some bad luck too but I was wondering 'Why did it have to be off the very next ball? It could have happened 3-4 deliveries later, right?' Suddenly it felt 'Oh man! What a mind this guy has'," Venkatesh said 

"Just this year, I was batting and I played a shot and got out at short third man. I turned around and saw 'He is standing wrong. That's not where a fielder stands. He is standing at a wrong position; he should be more to the right. Then I realised 'Oh'. I asked him after the match, 'Bhaiyya, kyu?' (Why?) He said the way the ball was leaving my bat; the fielders should be a lot fine. Then I was like 'WOW! I never even thought like that. To think so quickly then and there, and to understand the angle – cricket is all about angles – to read it is I think his biggest strength."

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Dhoni is the only player, continues Venkatesh, who is overwhelmed by him. And during this time, he was also in the vicinity of people like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He and Kohli actually shared a dressing room when India played ODIs in South Africa in December 2021. Venkatesh was in some significant company, but Dhoni's vibe is very different.

"It has only happened with MS, like when I went to bat and realised that he is standing right behind me. Before the match, we are busy in our warm-ups when suddenly you hear the public scream out of nowhere. When you turn around, you see MS is walking from the dugout. He is so chill and doesn’t create a parity between youngsters and established legends like themselves," Venkatesh mentioned.

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