He brushed away all the speculations regarding his retirement after this season.
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain and legendary player Mahendra Singh Dhoni discarded all the rumours of hanging up his boots after the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). In an interview with Jio Hotstar, he clearly stated that he would carry on with the franchise as long as he wanted. He also mentioned the team’s love for him by saying that, even if he gets injured and finds himself in a wheelchair, they will still “drag” him to play for them.
“I can play for as long as I want for CSK. That’s my franchise. Even if I’m in a wheelchair, they’ll drag me”, said the former skipper.
Previously, Dhoni went through knee surgery following the IPL 2023 edition. He made a strong comeback last season where he brought out a new aspect in his game. The former skipper handed the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad and picked up the no.8 position to play some fiery cameos. He notched up 161 runs in 73 balls throughout the season at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 220. However, CSK missed the play-offs by a whisker as they finished the league stage in fifth position.
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The two most successful teams in the history of IPL are set to go head-to-head against each other in their first match of the IPL 2025. After clinching the trophy in 2021 by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders, CSK stumbled the next season to finish ninth in the points table. But, they made a strong turnaround of things in IPL 2023 to win their fifth title and leveled their rivalry with the Mumbai Indians (MI).
On the other hand, the Mumbai-based franchise led by Hardik Pandya will now look to bounce back after a disastrous IPL 2024, where they only managed to win four out of their 14 group-stage games. Since winning their fifth title in 2020, the side has only made it to the playoffs once in 2023 but finished in fourth place. Their poor run also includes two bottom-of-the-table finishes in IPL 2022 and 2024.
The clash between these two teams will take place at the Chepauk stadium. Hardik has faced a one-match ban due to the team’s slow over-rate in their last match of the IPL 2024. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the MI squad in his absence.
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