MS Dhoni is expected to take a final call on his IPL playing career in the coming few months but as of now, even Chennai Super Kings’ team management isn’t aware of what their former captain is thinking.
Dhoni is set to turn 43 this July and has now played two full IPL seasons in a row despite battling fitness concerns. Last year, he had a knee issue which limited his movements and to address that, he underwent surgery days after CSK won a record-equaling fifth IPL title.
Even during IPL 2024, Dhoni reportedly played with constant pain in his leg which was also cited as a major reason why he often batted lower in the batting order despite hitting runs at a 200-plus strike-rate.
According to a report in The Times of India, the 42-year-old has told CSK management he will wait a couple of months before arriving at a decision.
“Dhoni has not told anybody in CSK that he is quitting. He has told the management that he will wait for a couple of months before taking a final call,” TOI quoted a source as saying.
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CSK exited IPL 2024 after losing to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday night, a result that ended their playoffs hopes. Dhoni batted for around four overs during the contest and scored 25 runs at a strike-rate of 192.31.
Dhoni reportedly didn’t ‘feel any discomfort in his running between the wickets’.
“We will wait for Dhoni’s communication. He always has the best interests of the team in mind, let’s see what happens,” the report quoted a CSK official as claiming.
There are other external factors which could impact Dhoni’s decision. A mega auction has been planned ahead of the next IPL season and teams will be asked to retain a certain number of players meaning CSK will have to take some tough choices.
Before the IPL 2022 mega auction, each team was allowed a maximum retention of four players of which at most three can be Indian or two overseas. There are reports that there’s no consensus between the 10 franchises over the retention limit.
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