In the end, it felt like thanksgiving. The Chennai Super Kings players lined up and wore medals. The team did a lap of honour and MS Dhoni, along with a few other CSK players, hit signed tennis balls into the stands. The Chepauk crowd, who waited after the CSK versus Rajasthan Royals game on Sunday, lapped it up.
CSK played their final home game in the group league stage in this year’s IPL and ahead of the match, the franchise dropped a teaser on their X handle. “Requesting the Superfans to Stay back after the game! Something special coming your way!” it said. Suddenly, speculation was rife about Dhoni’s retirement.
Before this season’s IPL opener, as RevSportz spoke to the fans in Chennai, the common feeling was that circa 2024 would be their ‘Thala’s’ last. After CSK’s social media post yesterday, a lot of fans even expected an on-field announcement.
Dhoni, though, prefers to do things differently. He abruptly retired from Test cricket midway into a series in Australia. When he called time on his white-ball international career, the decision was made public casually, via a social media post. It is learnt that the former CSK captain hasn’t yet informed his franchise about his IPL retirement plan.
In other IPL news:
Virat Kohli’s on-field behaviour is a reflection of his commitment, intensity and will to win. But overdoing it, like during the RCB-DC IPL match, questions his conduct as a role model
✍️@atreyom #ViratKohli #RCBvDC #RCBvsDC https://t.co/kg7CwUMbgd
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) May 13, 2024
“We never ask him. If he takes a decision, he will inform us. He can continue as long as he wants,” a top CSK official told RevSportz.
A victory over Royals kept CSK firmly in playoffs contention. They have 14 points from 13 matches and a net run rate of 0.528. Unless they lose their final group league fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru badly, the defending champions will be in the top-four. And in that case, they will have an opportunity to return to their home patch, with Chepauk hosting the Qualifier 2 and the final on May 24 and May 26 respectively.
Then again, Dhoni has been playing through pain, a reason why he is batting lower down the order despite being in great hitting form – 136 runs in 10 innings at a strike-rate of 226.66. He is 42, can he continue for one more year?
Yesterday, Suresh Raina, a CSK legend and Dhoni’s good friend, was asked on air if this was the last time the great man was playing at Chepauk. Raina came up with a two-word reply: “Definitely not.”
All said and done, it is evident that Dhoni is gradually sauntering towards a golden sunset. He underwent a knee surgery after the 2023 IPL and suffered a muscle injury early in this year’s tournament. Dhoni hasn’t missed a game yet, because he has a high pain threshold. But managing his workload has become important.
“We have seen earlier on, when he recovered from knee surgery last year, which was quite debilitating for him, that there was a certain workload this year that he can manage,” CSK head coach Stephen Fleming told reporters a few days ago, asking people not to worry about Dhoni’s batting order. Fleming also spoke about how it is important to have the ex-skipper on the field.
As for the CSK management, the franchise sees this as an inseparable bond. Even after Dhoni retires, he will be with the team in some capacity.
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