Launching an arsenal of missiles from his bat, smearing the bowlers all across the park and haplessly destroying the confidence of bowlers with his swashbuckling batting-all of these are traits of the legendary former Indian captain and wicket-keeper MS Dhoni. Unarguably the greatest captain of the Indian team, MS Dhoni has entered the sunset of his career and very soon, he will be retiring from all forms of cricket.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni has led the Yellow franchise to 4 Indian Premier League (IPL) titles; the most recent being in IPL 2021 when they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Right from 2008, MS Dhoni has played all the seasons for CSK except the two years when Chennai was banned from IPL.
As Dhoni enters the twilight of his illustrious career, we take a look at 3 reasons why IPL 2023 might be the final season for MS Dhoni:
1. The age factor
MS Dhoni has played over 15 years in the international circuit and is one of the most decorated players in the IPL and international cricket. However, age is not on his side and the 41-year-old talismanic cricketer might retire to pave the way for the other youngsters.
2. IPL 2023 will be played in a home-away format
As confirmed by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, IPL 2023 will return to its home and away format. As previously publicly declared by MS Dhoni, he would be playing his last season in front of the vibrant and exuberant Chepuak crowd. As IPL 2023 will mark the return of CSK at Chepauk which is their home stadium, MS Dhoni might decide to hang up his boots from all forms of cricket.
3. To facilitate the transition process in CSK
MS Dhoni had tried grooming CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the captaincy position ahead of IPL 2022 but the star all-rounder faced miserable results. He gave up captaincy mid-way and MS Dhoni was again the skipper of CSK. The transition process requires a lot of planning and strategy and MS Dhoni might hand-pick a few youngsters to take the mantle forward.
In this process, CSK’s humongous legacy would remain intact and MS Dhoni could retire happily. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility of MS Dhoni being roped in as a mentor of CSK after his playing days are over.
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Reasons Why KKR Might Not Retain Venkatesh Iyer For Next Season
