From Mayo Road itself, one could spot at least two out of every five people wearing yellow T-shirts. That was early on Sunday evening. And as you went nearer to Eden Gardens, that number just kept getting higher and higher.

Once at the ground, one could easily pass off the Eden as the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the home ground of Chennai Super Kings.

Calling it an over-statement would be a little too harsh because it really did seem as if a sea of yellow had engulfed Eden Gardens. Almost as much as two-thirds of the packed house had donned Super Kings jerseys.

And it’s needless to say, it was all because of one man and his immense popularity that hasn’t reduced one bit even after almost three years of his retirement from international cricket. Such is the aura of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It cuts across fans from all camps, in all cities, at all stadiums.

MS Dhoni fans flocked Eden Gardens on Sunday. Sanat Kr Sinha

Outside the Eden, not even a handful were seen wearing the purple jersey of the home team — KKR. The flag sellers, too, agreed that CSK had beaten the Knight Riders on flag count even before the game began. And inside, more than an hour before the game got underway, the “CSK” and “Dhoni” chants began to reverberate around the stadium.

One may say that even Royal Challengers Bangalore, when they played here on April 6, had got a fair amount of support largely due to the presence of Virat Kohli in their ranks. But the decibels rose higher on Sunday. The fan-following that India’s most successful captain enjoys is unparalleled.

As soon as Thala, as Dhoni is affectionately called in Chennai, entered the field, during the pre-match warm-up on Sunday, the cheers and whistles got louder and louder. The noise decibels went a few notches up when the CSK captain came out to bat to face the last two balls of his team’s innings.

“Given the atmosphere, it would really have been good had Dhoni come out to bat a little earlier,” former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, also Dhoni’s former CSK teammate, said during the mid-innings break.

Conjectures are still on as to whether this would be Dhoni’s last IPL or not. Of course, he’s the one who knows it best. But many in Calcutta feel Sunday evening could well be Dhoni’s last appearance at the Eden.

“We don’t know if we’ll ever get to see Dhoni again at the Eden. So, just couldn’t miss watching him from close this time,” Subhash Agarwal, a businessman, said.

Not just fours and sixes, even ones and twos from CSK were celebrated, just for one man, the one and only Dhoni.