(Image source from: x.com/ChennaiIPL)
MS Dhoni celebrated his 44th birthday last month. It has now been five years since he retired from playing for the national team. Nevertheless, the iconic wicketkeeper batsman still competes in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings, a team that has secured all five of its championship titles under his leadership. In 2024, he passed the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. They narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs, but the last season was disappointing as they recorded a historic low; for the first time, CSK ended up at the bottom of the league table. Despite CSK's disappointing results, Dhoni's retirement became a hot topic of conversation throughout the season. The former captain of India mentioned that while he is open to playing next year, he does not plan to continue for a long time.
"CSK and I are in this together," Dhoni stated at a recent event. "You know, even for the next 15-20 years (crowd cheers). I hope people don't think I’ll be playing for another 15-20 years." Although his time playing is limited, Dhoni has made it clear he will remain part of CSK. "It’s not just about one year or two years. I will always be wearing a yellow jersey. You can tell if I will be playing or not for a while, but you know yourself," Dhoni explained. He acknowledged the significant influence CSK has had on his development as a player and as a person. "I believe our relationship has deepened over the years. It has helped me grow both personally and as a cricketer. CSK came into my life, and I think that’s great for Chennai. So, it’s also good for me today," he shared. CSK has won two out of the last five IPL seasons, but in the other three seasons, they did not make it to the playoffs.
"Yes, the past couple of years have not been great for us. We haven't performed as expected. But what matters is recognizing the lessons learned. Yes, we had a tough season. But what went wrong? That was the question we faced last year as well," Dhoni mentioned. The season was quite eventful for the yellow team. Gaikwad had to sit out partway through the season due to an elbow injury, and Dhoni took over as captain for the rest of their games. "Rutu will be back. He was injured, but he's coming back. So, we are feeling good now," Dhoni concluded.
