MS Dhoni Opens Up on His IPL Retirement and CSK Future: 'I Will Take a Call But Needs to be in Best Interest of...'

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) despite multiple predictions of the World Cup winner hanging up his boots over the past couple of seasons. ‘Thala’ Dhoni has finally cleared up the air regarding his IPL retirement and fufture with CSK.

With rules around IPL 2025 player regulations and retention scheme in the process of being firmed up, MSD said he would wait and see how the rules are before taking a decision.

“There is a lot of time for it. We have to see what decision they take on player retention etc. Right now, the ball is not in our court. So, once the rules and regulations get formalised, I will take a call, but needs to be in the best interest of the team,” said Dhoni at a promotional event in Hyderabad.

Questions on Dhoni’s future at the IPL have been a huge source of discussion, especially after CSK made Ruturaj Gaikwad captain for IPL 2024, where they finished at fifth place in the tournament and failed to qualify for the playoffs. As of now, all ten IPL teams are not on the same page for the mega auction rules, ranging from player retention to the Impact Player rule.

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After a meeting with all franchise owners’ in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said there was constructive dialogue with the IPL team owners on a variety of subjects, and the recommendations will be taken to the IPL Governing Council further deliberation and evaluation.

Dhoni, who captained India to 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs, picked Jasprit Bumrah as his favourite bowler from the Indian team. Bumrah was the Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup triumph in June, picking 15 wickets from eight matches at an economy rate of 4.17.

“It’s easy to pick my favourite bowler because Bumrah is there. It’s difficult to pick a batsman because we have many good batsmen. But that doesn’t mean bowlers aren’t good,” he said.

In terms of batters, Dhoni didn’t pick a favourite. “It’s difficult to pick one among batters as whomever I see batting, he looks the best. But when I see someone else he also looks great. But as long as Team India is winning, I don’t want to pick a batter (as my favourite). I hope they will keep scoring runs for the team,” he concluded.

(With inputs from Agencies)