Chennai Super Kings (CSK) former captain MS Dhoni has opened up about when he might retire from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. On April 5, speculations about Dhoni’s retirement were high as his parents attended the match against Delhi Capitals (DC) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In the pre-recorded podcast, Dhoni stated that it will be his body that decides when he retires, not him, and that he is taking things one year at a time.
“I am still playing the IPL and one year at a time. I am 43, by the end of this IPL season, I will be 44 in July. So I have 10 months to decide whether I want to play one more year and it’s not me deciding, it’s my body, whether you can play or not,” Dhoni said.
“In life, you’ll meet some good people, you’ll meet some bad people. The important thing is, if someone betrays your trust, it’s not like you stop trusting everyone. What you do is, you move on. You find those few people that become part of your life & that make you happy,” he added.
“If we are winning the match in peace for India and I am not able to do batting, I am happy. I just want India to win. Whoever made runs, who took wickets doesn’t matter & I’m not bothered, I just want India to win. Our job was to win the match, we won the match, that’s the most important thing. In our game, it’s quite funny. But when you are going through a bad form. The person who is part timer of the opposition would be bowling, somehow you will get an edge and the person who is the worst fielder, he will take a brilliant one handed catch. This happens in Cricket. Cricket is a great leveler. If you don’t give it the kind of respect, comes back and bites” he said.
Dhoni’s Struggle to Accelerate in Defeat; Coach Stephen Fleming Puts Retirement Rumors to Rest
In CSK’s recent home encounter, MS Dhoni came in to bat during the 11th over after the team had lost half of its lineup. Struggling to accelerate, Dhoni remained not out with 30 runs off 26 deliveries, as CSK fell short by 25 runs. He managed to hit only one boundary and a six during his innings. The team never really looked close to chasing the target. Dhoni also missed out on capitalizing on a free hit delivered by Mohit Sharma.
Following the loss, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming also dismissed the retirement speculations. Fleming mentioned that he doesn’t question Dhoni about calling it quits.
“No, that’s not my role to put an end to it. I have no idea. I’m just enjoying working with him. He’s still going strong. I don’t even ask these days. You are the ones who ask,” Stephen Fleming told reporters during the post-match press conference.
So far, Dhoni has scored 76 runs from four innings and has only been dismissed once. During the unsuccessful chase against RCB, he remained unbeaten with a 30 off 16 balls. However, he faced criticism for coming in to bat as low as number 9.
