Bhubaneswar, May 25 -- https://images.odishatv.in/uploadimage/library/16_9/16_9_0/MS_Dhoni_1748187298.webp

He isn't just a captain. He's a phenomenon. A force. The beating heart of an empire in yellow. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the man who gave Chennai its cricketing identity, stood one more time under the floodlights-calm, composed, and as always, in control of the moment.

On a warm evening at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where CSK ended their campaign with an emphatic 83-run win over Gujarat Titans, it wasn't the win or the scoreboard that people remembered. It was Dhoni's words. Subtle, cryptic, and soaked in emotion.

When asked the inevitable question-Will you return next season?, Dhoni, 43 and still adored like he's 25, left ...