For the first time since the inaugural T20 World Cup, Team India will be without MS Dhoni in the dressing room. While the former India captain led the side in the first 6 editions of the tournament, he was roped in as the team’s mentor for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
This year, he won’t be part of the dressing room when the Rohit Sharma-led side will kick off its campaign against Pakistan on October 23. Despite retiring from international cricket 2 years ago, Dhoni remains one of the most-followed cricketers.
The former India captain recently attended a promotional event and as the anchor started to talk about cricket, Dhoni left the audience in splits with a funny response. “I am not playing the World Cup. The team has already left,” said Dhoni even before the host could ask any question.
Dhoni may not be part of Team India but he is still an active cricketer. Before the end of IPL 2022, Dhoni had confirmed that he would be part of the 16th edition of the tournament and he is confirmed to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The BCCI has confirmed that the teams will play half of their matches at their home and Dhoni will be leading CSK at the Chepauk Stadium for the first time since 2019. The last time Dhoni captained CSK at Chepauk was in the qualifier of the 12th season of the tournament. Eventual winners Mumbai Indians won that game to make it to the final before CSK.
There will be a mini-auction this year. The one-day event is likely to take place in December in Bengaluru. The franchises will have to reveal the list of retained and released players in November.
There will be a bigger window for IPL 2023 and the tournament will be played from March to June. The number of matches will remain the same.
