Legendary former Indian captain and Chennai Super Kings talisman Mahendra Singh Dhoni made it quite clear that he will be returning for the Yellove franchise in IPL 2022. Dhoni wants to play his farewell game in front of the passionate and crazy ‘Whistle Podu’ fans of Chennai in their own city. Dhoni who has led CSK well once again this season provided clarity on his future in a recent interaction.
“When it comes to farewell, you can still come and see me play for CSK and that can be my farewell game. So, you will still get that opportunity to bid me farewell. Hopefully, you will come to see me in Chennai when I play my last game over there and I can meet the fans there,” said Dhoni while virtually interacting with fans during the 75th celebration of India Cements.
According to several sources, Chennai are planning to retain three players ahead of the mega-auction next year – Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and of course, MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni, who is immensely adored by the people of Chennai, hasn’t played in the city since IPL 2019. The 2020 edition of the tournament was held in UAE and CSK played most of their matches in the first leg of IPL 2021 in Mumbai before the competition was postponed and shifted to UAE once again because of bio-bubble breaches. Last year, Dhoni stunned the world by abruptly dropping the message of his international retirement on August 15. “It can’t be a better day than that, 15th of August,” said Dhoni.
Along with Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings have been the most dominant franchise in the Indian Premier League this season. They turned around their disappointing form from UAE last season quite spectacularly and will be fighting for the title once again. CSK skipper elucidated that his side is more process-driven than results-driven. “We are a process-driven team, we believe in the process and we know that if we follow the process, if we execute the plans well, if we do the small things right, we will get the desired result. We know the result is a byproduct and that also keeps us calm.
“We live in the moment and enjoy each other’s company. We know that if we play to our potential, we can beat the opposition. If the opposition has to beat us, they have to play better cricket,” Dhoni signed off.