IPL 2025: MS Dhoni Plays Down Retirement Talks, Vows To Continue Playing For CSK 'Even On Wheelchair'

MS Dhoni, undoubtedly one of the greatest cricketers the game has ever seen, is all set for another season in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey as IPL 2025 kicks off. Dhoni's future in the IPL have been a topic of much debate and ahead of the highly anticipated match against Mumbai Indians, Dhoni shared his thoughts, stating that he could continue playing as long as he desired.

Dhoni said during a conversation on JioHotstar, reflected on his commitment to CSK. He said,"I can play for as long as I want for CSK. That's my franchise. Even if I'm in a wheelchair, they'll drag me,"

CSK's captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, also spoke about Dhoni's "remarkable" ability to keep contributing to the team at the age of 43 and expressed his hope that Dhoni would deliver some crucial knocks for CSK in this season of IPL.

"A lot of new players have joined the team and sometimes they struggle to strike the ball as good as he is striking it right now. So, definitely it inspires a lot of us including myself," Gaikwad mentioned to the media before CSK's opening match.

He added,"So, whatever he is doing at the age of 43, I think it is remarkable. We have certain strengths that we have been following since the last two years. So, I think nothing much really changes and hopefully he will continue to deliver those crucial knocks for us,".

Squads

CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.

MI: Hardik Pandya (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, Raj Angad Bawa, Venkat Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthhur, Suryakumar Yadav.