Ending the speculations over his IPL future, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni confirmed that he will be leading the Yellow Army in the next season. Going into CSK’s final league stage fixture of the season, all eyes were on Dhoni. The IPL legend came prepared and announced that he won’t be retiring from IPL.
Hoping to play in front of the Chepauk crowd next year, Dhoni said: “Definitely. It’s a simple reason: it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you [to the fans]. Mumbai is one place where, as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But it wouldn’t be nice to the CSK fans.”
Following Dhoni’s mega announcement, CSK took to Twitter to share a heartfelt post for the four-time IPL-winning captain.
CSK had entered IPL 2022 as the defending champions but struggled throughout the season. The 2nd team to crash out from the league stage, CSK are reeling at the 9th spot with 4 wins from 13 matches.
Before the start of the season, Dhoni made a big call and handed the team’s charge to Ravindra Jadeja. The star all-rounder stepped down after the Yellow Army only managed 2 wins from 8 matches. Dhoni did return to lead CSK but couldn’t pull off a heist.
While there are many reasons behind CSK’s struggle in the season, Deepak Chahar’s absence was the probably the biggest reason. CSK spent a huge sum of Rs 14 crore on him but Chahar got ruled out of the season due to an injury. A genuine wicket-taker, Chahar often gets wickets in powerplay. CSK’s pace attack comprising of uncapped bowlers couldn’t do the job in Chahar’s absence.
Going into the next season, CSK are expected to rejig their squad. A few senior players could also be released before IPL 2023 auction.
