Dhoni couldn't feature in a single match for CSK this season due to calf issues and thumb injury.
While MS Dhoni has not officially confirmed his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL), his future has been the subject of heavy speculation.
The 44-year-old missed the entire IPL 2026 due to a calf strain, and any chance of a late-season appearance for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was ended by a thumb injury.
CSK were officially eliminated from the playoff contention on Thursday (May 21), following a crushing 89-run defeat to Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India pacer Zaheer Khan addressed the retirement chatter around Dhoni, saying that the legendary wicketkeeper may play one more season before taking a call on his IPL future.
“After the off-season he (Dhoni) will see how his body is feeling. When it comes to the big auction, and I think the kind of direction which CSK has gone in, which is investing heavily in youngsters, when you’re retaining them, you have two slots of uncapped players,” Zaheer said.
“This year CSK maybe in the beginning of the cycle, they used MSD as an uncapped option? So, if they find someone who is going to take the franchise forward, then MS himself, like how he decided that okay, he’s going to be an uncapped player, use that for his advantage, for the franchise’s advantage, so he will look at it that way,” he added.
“So if you have that kind of approach, then the next year becomes important for him to come back and then take that call once it comes to the big auction. If you ask him, he’s going to say that, ‘Okay, I’ll see how the off-season goes,’ which every year he’s been doing, isn’t it?" he continued.
Former India spinner Murali Kartik, who was also part of the expert panel discussion, pointed out that it is futile to predict Dhoni’s retirement as even his own CSK teammates often find out his decisions from sudden social media announcements rather than prior internal discussions.
“The one thing which you know for a fact with MSD is you don’t know what he’s going to do," Kartik said. “I’ve always said he never allows the left hand to know what his right hand is thinking, so we could be sitting here and talk till the cows come home and not figure out what MSD is thinking."
“Having said that, a part of me felt, what, he’s 43, 44? So, he might play and maybe just surprise everyone. So next year could be another surprise. It’s very difficult to predict with MSD. he’s an emotion, any CSK supporter would want him in those yellows all the time – whether he does anything or nothing, it’s immaterial. And certain logics don’t go with emotions," he remarked.