IPL 2025: Will this be MS Dhoni’s swansong?

IPL 2025: Will this be MS Dhoni’s swansong? (BCCI Photo)

Even by Chennai Super Kings’ fandom standards, last year was overtly emotional. This correspondent went to Chennai to cover the 2024 IPL opener between CSK and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk. And the buzz in the city was about Thala's swansong. “This has to be his last,” several fans had mused. “The final is in Chepauk, a perfect occasion for him to say goodbye.”

Dhoni had relinquished his CSK captaincy before last year's IPL, handing over the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad. It fanned the retirement rumours. Also, with the final at Chepauk, his last bow in front of his ‘home’ crowd wasn't ruled out. CSK were the defending champions, and strong favourites to retain the title. As it turned out, they failed to qualify for the playoffs. There's a theory that it influenced Dhoni's decision to continue at least for one more season, as he wanted to go on a high.

The 2025 IPL will get underway on March 22, and Dhoni is there, bringing out the helicopter shot and turning back the clock at the nets. He is 43, but it's a never-ending love story. A few years ago, I asked N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president the CSK supremo, about how long Dhoni would continue as a player. “As long as he wants,” Srinivasan had said. And as a new season is about to begin, the customary question - if this would be Dhoni’s last - to CSK chief executive Kasi Viswanathan was met with the standard reply: “We don't ask him. If he takes a decision, he will tell us.”

Ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction, the BCCI brought back a rule that allowed Indian players who haven't played international cricket for five years or more to be considered as “uncapped”. It enabled CSK to retain Dhoni for Rs 4 crore. Last year, he kept pushing himself down the order, sometimes coming out to bat No. 8 or 9 even. Later, at a promotional event, Dhoni told reporters that his decision was down to giving more opportunities to players who were in the reckoning for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Will he bat up the order this term? Is his knee OK enough to take the rigours of another IPL?

Harbhajan Singh, the former India off-spinner, recently bumped into Dhoni at a wedding party, and he revealed the conversation that followed. “I just met him (Dhoni) recently at one of our friend's daughter's weddings,” Harbhajan told ESPNcricinfo. “He looked very fit, solid. I asked him, 'What are you doing at this age, isn't it tough’? He said, 'Yes, it's difficult, but this is the only thing I like doing. I find joy in it. I want to do it, go out and play’. As long as the hunger is there, you will be able to do it.”

The IPL is the only top-tier competitive tournament that Dhoni plays. He bats for a couple of hours at the nets in the lead-up. His wicketkeeping still remains very good. And he is the team's leader on and off the field, notwithstanding that he is no longer going out for the coin toss.

As regards his retirement, whether this will be his farewell season, fans in Chennai have stopped speculating.