Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings finished with three consecutive victories.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ended their IPL 2020 campaign with another convincing win by 9 wickets over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to dash their playoffs hopes as well. Both teams finished with 12 points, which was not enough to get them into the top four.
Kings XI Punjab set a target of 154 after MS Dhoni, the CSK captain, won the toss and opted to bowl first. Deepak Hooda scored 62* off 30 balls but none of the KXIP batting stars could perform as per expectations in what was a do-or-die game for them. Lungi Ngidi bowled well upfront to pick up three wickets for CSK.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (62*) struck his third consecutive half-century, and was well supported by Faf du Plessis (48) and Ambati Rayudu (30*) as CSK chased down the target without any difficulty with seven balls to spare.
CSK failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their history but the three wins at the end with more youngsters coming into the XI, signalled positive signs for the next season which is just a few months away in 2021.
MS Dhoni, earlier in the day confirmed that retirement was 'definetly not' on his mind and he would be back to play for CSK next season despite the disappointment of not having a tournament as per his or the team's high expectations.
WATCH- MS Dhoni quashes rumors of his retirement from IPL
After the game, Dhoni was asked at the presentation ceremony on why was he giving his jersey away to so many players from the opposition in this season. He replied, "Everybody is picking jerseys from me, thinking that I'll retire from the shorter format too, now that I've retired from international cricket. But definitely not, IPL 2021 is just a few months away."
Dhoni also hinted that CSK would look to field a fresher team for the next season and the auction would be important for the franchise depending on what BCCI decides for the 14th edition of the cash-rich T20 league which is set to be played around late March or early April. As per reports, mega auction is likely to be postponed to 2022.
"A lot depends on what BCCI decides about the auction. We need to slightly change our core group and looks for the next ten years. At the start of the IPL, we made a team that served us well for ten years. It's time to hand it over to the next generation," Dhoni said.