Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni will be leading his troops in the upcoming IPL 2024, which starts on March 22.
CSK, who are the defending champions, will kickstart the campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
There is speculation that Dhoni may play his final IPL season this year. The CSK captain was speculated to retire last year, but announced that he would continue for at least another year after winning the Final.
Although the same notion is back again this time around, Dhoni’s former CSK teammate Robin Uthappa has a different view. The former India player believes CSK won’t let Dhoni go even if the former India captain is ‘on a wheelchair.’
“CSK would let him play even if he was on a wheelchair! Get off from the wheelchair, bat, and then go back,” Uthappa said on JioCinema.
Uthappa also believes that Dhoni’s batting won’t be an issue. The 41-year-old has mainly been deployed as a finisher at CSK, and has been doing that effectively. Uthappa believes it is the wicketkeeping which may get hampered due to Dhoni’s again knees.
“But I don’t think the batting is the issue for him, I don’t think batting will ever be an issue for him. I think it’s the wicketkeeping. The knees are getting worn out and he loves keeping. So, because he won’t be able to stand there and add value, he’ll probably move on from the game than for any other reason,” he added.
Dhoni’s another ex-CSK teammate Suresh Raina depicted the connection he makes in Chennai. Raina said about Dhoni’s pre-IPL training in the coastal city, where he arrives weeks before IPL and does all the training amid the humid conditions.
“The best thing about MS is that he comes to Chennai one month or three weeks before the IPL. He bats for around two to three hours under humid conditions and does gym training. During this time, there’s a lot of team bonding and I think it’s something magical,” said Raina on JioCinema.
It is to be seen whether Dhoni will play his IPL swansong this season, and if he is, the CSK ‘Thala’ will definitely aim to finish on a high.
Sauradeep Ash Mykhel
source: mykhel.com