At Eden Gardens, home of the Kolkata Knight Riders, it looked more like Chennai Super Kings’ turf as the stands overflowed with fans wearing yellow jerseys. In that overwhelming sea of yellow, MS Dhoni — the beloved CSK captain — addressed the topic of his retirement.
This season, Chennai Super Kings haven’t had much success, managing only three wins and already being eliminated from playoff contention. A few matches ago, Dhoni had mentioned that the team had already started planning for the next IPL.
Speaking on Wednesday, Dhoni said,
“I haven’t thought about retirement yet. I’m 43 years old and have been playing for a long time. The fans don’t know whether this is my last match. I only play for two months a year. Once this IPL ends, I’ll see where my body is after six to eight months and then decide. I need to assess whether my body can still handle the pressure. But the love from the fans has been incredible.”
In the match against Kolkata, Dhoni scored 17 runs off 18 balls, including a single six hit in the final over. Until then, he was feeding the strike to Shivam Dube, realising Dube was key to a potential victory. Dube made 45 runs off 40 balls but couldn’t see the team through. Ultimately, it was the experienced Dhoni who closed out the match.
Reflecting on the season after the game, Dhoni said,
“This is only our third win. It feels good to end a match as the winning team. A lot of things didn’t go our way this season. We need to identify those mistakes. We must start building for next year — figure out which batter fits which role, and which bowler can adapt to different situations. We’ll continue with this group next season, and we’ll assess everyone during training.”
