MS Dhoni Drops Major Hint About Retirement Plans Ahead of IPL 2024
MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings skipper is all set to lead the Yellow Army in IPL 2024. Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions of the IPL having won the title last season. CSK beat Gujarat Titans to win their fifth IPL title. CSK included six players in their squad during the IPL 2024 auction. They bought Daryl Mitchell for 14 crores and Shardul Thakur for 4 crores. Chennai added Mustafizur Rahman and Rachin Ravindra for Rs 2 crore and Rs 1.8 crore respectively.
CSK CSO Kasi Viswanathan was very happy with the new acquisition after the auction. He talked about Shardul's return while also talking about the rest of the players.
Talking about MS Dhoni, he underwent an operation on his left knee after IPL 2023. The CSK CEO said he played the entire season with an injured knee. He will likely lead the franchise for one final time. Speaking at a recent event, MS Dhoni addressed a fan's question about his plans after IPL 2024. He said that he wants to spend more time with the army after retiring from the IPL.
Would like to spend some time with Army: MS Dhoni
“I never thought about it. I am still playing cricket. I am still playing IPL. It will be very interesting to see what I do after cricket. I am sure, I would like to spend some more time with the Army because I have not been able to do that for the last few years," said Dhoni.
CSK tried with Ravindra Jadeja as CSK captain at the start of IL 2022. The move backfired badly as MS Dhoni was reappointed as the Chennai Super Kings skipper for the second half of the season. CSK is ninth in the table followed by Mumbai Indians at tenth. Dhoni then returned as captain in 2023 and won his fifth IPL title with the franchise. MS Dhoni completes 5000 runs for CSK. He has scored 4508 runs in 220 matches for CSK. If he bats in the order, he has a chance to cross 5000 runs for the franchise. He batted at number 7 and occasionally at 8 last season and made some crucial cameos.
Both Stephen Fleming and Kasi Viswanathan were asked about MS Dhoni's future in the recently concluded IPL season. Fleming said that the franchise has been searching for MS Dhoni's successor for the past decade. “We have had succession plans for MS for almost 10 years. It's a talking point., but he's as busy and enthusiastic as I've seen him in a while. When that passion is there for the team and the franchise, we will move forward,” said Stephen Fleming.