In life, all of us have principles. Our very own MS Dhoni is no different. The man who advocated match-fit players during his heydays has continued to play IPL and has mesmerized the spectators with some lusty hits to the fence. Unfortunately, his weak knee is a weak link. Dhoni went under the knife to rectify the problem but he isn’t getting younger. So, he can’t bat up the order and now that he has given up on captaincy at the start of the season, why hasn’t Dhoni announced his retirement from IPL as yet? He will take his time to decide on his IPL retirement. He may just give it a thought to play one more year. Who knows?
It was speculated last year that the 2023 season would be his last. He stayed on by saying that the fans wanted him to. Now that 2024 is over and the Chennai Super Kings came so close to qualifying for the knock-out stages and yet couldn’t go to the next stage for the first time in this fashion, it is time for Dhoni to hang up his boots.
But a typical Dhoni won’t announce his exit from the white ball cricket league like IPL like he did from Test cricket. Dhoni played his last white ball match against New Zealand in the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup and he announced his retirement from international cricket on August 20, 2020. And then played five years of IPL and everyone thought that CSK’s last league match against RCB would be Dhoni’s last.
Reportedly, Dhoni left the field after failing to take CSK over the rope. He didn’t wait for a long time after CSK lost the game and RCB players were seen jumping around in joy. Dhoni felt disturbed by the way he got out and lost the game. There was a sympathy wave around the stadium like it happened when he got run out in that semifinal match against New Zealand.
If Dhoni continues to play from here, he will be losing the sympathy of his fans. He will become a laughingstock. Everyone knows that 2024 IPL marked the end of a great era of Dhoni not only for CSK but also for Brand IPL. But the moment, a stalwart like MS is over-stretching, it is nothing but stopping the young players from coming into the system.
The official broadcaster too showed a package of the last hurray of Dhoni. With no official announcement, no one actually could stick his neck out and say that Dhoni is finally over in the IPL. CSK’s last league match performance truly marked the end of a legend. Let’s wait and watch for the official version. Hope it is coming soon!!