IPL 2023: ‘I don’t know’, MS Dhoni remains tight-lipped on future with CSK after guiding them to final

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni gave an interesting reply on Tuesday when asked if he would return to Chepauk in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024.

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CSK reached the IPL final on Tuesday for an unprecedented 10^th time, beating Gujarat Titans (GT) by 15 runs. With the final being played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, fans have been left wondering if Dhoni would be returning to Chepauk as a CSK player for one more season.

“I don’t know,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.

“I have 8-9 months to decide. Why take that headache now. I’ll always be there for CSK, whether it’s playing or something outside,” added the Jharkhand-based cricketer.

Dhoni has been with CSK right from the inaugural season of IPL back in 2008, and have led the “Yellow Brigade” to four titles, the last of those coming in 2021.

The 41-year-old has also previously stated that he wants to finish his IPL career with CSK at Chepauk.

Both Deepak Chahar and Matheesha Pathirana have been impressive this season, and Dhoni explained how the team management gives confidence to the pacers.

“We try to create an environment and work out what is the strength of a fast bowler. We try to give them confidence and tell them ‘please try to explore your bowling’. We try to motivate them as much as possible. Support staff is there, Bravo and Eric are there.”

Dhoni continued, saying that he could an “annoying captain” at times.

“You see the wicket and according to that you keep adjusting the field. I can be a very annoying captain, I keep shifting fielders 2-3 feet. Only request I ask from the fielders is, keep an eye on me. If there’s a dropped catch there will be no reaction (from me), just keep an eye on me,” added the veteran.

‘We conceded 15 extra runs’

Gujarat Titans conceded 35 runs from the last three overs to let CSK post 172/7, with 15 of those runs coming in the last over bowled by Mohammed Shami.

Skipper Hardik Pandya felt that making “basic errors” cost GT the game.

“I think we were quite spot-on (with the ball), but we made basic errors and that costed us the game. The kind of bowlers we had, I felt we conceded 15 extra runs. A lot of things we did right. We bowled a couple of soft balls in between.

“We were executing our plans and then in between we gave some runs. I don’t think we need to look much into it. We have to play two days later, we have to play one more game to make sure we reach the final. Just focus on the things that we’ve done really well this season,” said Hardik.

Hardik hoped GT would seal a final berth with a win in Qualifier 2, and more importantly, another chance to meet Dhoni.

“That’s the beauty about him (Dhoni), with his mind and the way he uses the bowlers, he’ll make sure that you’ll feel like he’s adding 10 runs. We kept losing wickets, he kept making sure that he used the right bowlers, happy for him as well. It would be a really good sight to meet him on Sunday if we can win the next game,” the 29-year-old.

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