Watch: The truth behind MS Dhoni's eyes-closed visual before and after Jadeja's heist in last over of IPL 2023 final

The IPL 2023 final between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings was mostly about MS Dhoni. To a certain extent, the whole tournament was. After all, it was pitted as Dhoni's swansong. The perfect end to a fairytale career decorated with moments of brilliance like very few have witnessed.

A sportsperson's popularity has a lot to do with how he carries himself off the field, how he doesn't let defeats peg him back, how he doesn't allow success to dictate terms, and how he behaves in different situations. There might be debates on whether Dhoni is the best-ever keeper-batter and captain to have ever played white-ball cricket but he will always get full marks for his demeanour, even from his critics. This, perhaps, is the biggest reason behind his stardom and that is saying a lot considering his achievements with the bat, behind the stumps and as captain.

When CSK needed 4 of the last ball and Ravindra Jadeja clipped a Mohit Sharma full toss off his pads for a boundary, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad erupted. Jadeja, with his arms up in the air, started a mad run with no proper destination. The CSK players knew where to go but their dash from the dugout was a scattered one.

Dhoni and his reactions after CSK beat GT to win their 5th IPL title

Amid all this, Dhoni stood up from his seat with little to read from his face and hugged the remaining CSK support staff in the dugout. He doesn't let success get to him, remember? So what, it was his fifth IPL title as captain - the joint-most with MI's Rohit Sharma. So what, nobody would have written a better ending even if they wanted to. So what? Dhoni doesn't change and neither does his reaction.

But just before the last ball was about to be bowled on Monday, did Dhoni flinch? The photos going viral of Dhoni sitting with his eyes closed in the dugout tell a different story. Yes, Dhoni did have his eyes closed during the last phase of the final but exactly when is debatable.

A careful observation of the footage available reveals that the frame froze for a brief second when cameras panned towards Dhoni sitting in the CSK dugout with his eyes closed just before Mohit Sharma was on the top of his mark. The same eyes-closed frame was repeated twice more - when Mohit started his run-up and finally when Jadeja hit the winning runs.

VIDEO: Dhoni can't bare to watch, has his eyes-closed before last ball of IPL 2023 final

Whether it was a technical error or the footage going viral was edited, could not be verified but one thing is for certain the frame froze for a brief second when Dhoni had his eyes closed in the last over. And in all probability, it was before the last ball was about to be bowled and after Jadeja hit the winning runs.

After that, Dhoni was seen hugging Jadeja and lifting him as the all-rounder came charging towards his captain. It was a seen to behold.

It was an epic final in more ways than one. Firstly, it spanned for almost three days. Sunday was a washout. It moved to the reserve day and rain intervened once again, giving CSK a revised target of 171 in 15 overs after GT had put on a mammoth 214/4 in their 20 overs. When CSK resumed their innings at 4/0 in 0.3 overs it was past midnight. It took a collective effort from Devon Conway (47 off 25), Ajinkya Rahane (27 off 13) and Jadeja (15 off 6) to give CSK their fifth IPL title in the last ball of the tournament.