File photo of MS Dhoni© AFP
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding MS Dhoni‘s future in the Indian Premier League after Chennai Super Kings crashed out of the IPL 2024 playoffs race. Dhoni mainly played as a lower-order finisher for his team amid reports of a knee injury and after CSK lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a crucial encounter, fans and experts once again started wondering whether it was the last time that the former India skipper played for CSK. Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram weighed in on the subject and said that he has a ‘gut feeling; that Dhoni will not be returning for the next season.
“(On MS Dhoni’s future) I have a gut feeling, he’ll be done after this. Players like him come in a lifetime, it all depends on him,” Akram said on Sportskeeda.
Earlier, former Australian cricket team batter Matthew Hayden also echoed similar sentiments after CSK’s loss against RCB.
“I think this is it. I do believe that this will be the last time that Dhoni will play. Certainly, won’t be the last time that we see Dhoni. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t mentor or be a part of the family of CSK in an official capacity,” said Hayden on Star Sports Cricket Live.
“I suppose the thing is when you come to the end of your career, whether it is the last part of his career or not, what you don’t want to see is diminishing returns as an athlete. Firstly, as a leader, he is The Thala of the Chennai Super Kings. This is telling me that nothing here is about becoming anything else other than first place.”
“He’s desperately using his brains, all of that cricket knowledge. And of course, the power is there and that’s always been MS Dhoni. He’s always hit balls at this stage of an innings. At the front, you can understand how players can hit it. But at the back, it’s really hard to hit balls,” he added.
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