IPL 2022: ‘He is still enthusiastic about the game’, Gavaskar expects Dhoni to play for CSK in IPL 2023

MS Dhoni was reinstated as CSK's captain midway through the IPL 2022 season.

There are a lot of speculations around MS Dhoni’s participation in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He had stepped down as CSK’s captain two days ahead of the IPL 2022 season but was reinstated in the role once Ravindra Jadeja resigned after leading the side for 8 games.

Amid the speculations, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar is hopeful that Dhoni will return to play for the Super Kings next year.

According to Gavaskar, Dhoni's performances in IPL 15 show he is still enthusiastic about the game and that he is "definitely not" going to hang up his boots.

Read Also: "He is MS Dhoni, can’t really predict what he does”- Shoaib Akhtar on CSK captain's IPL future

Notably, Dhoni has retired from international cricket in August 2020 but he continues to feature in the IPL for CSK. The 40-year-old has been in good form in this year’s IPL as he has been able to produce clutch knocks under pressure on quite a few occasions.

"Well, I mean, look at the way he has played. He is clearly showing he is very keen, still enthusiastic about the game," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"On the field, it was quite telling today. He was running from one end to the other end, which means he was keen. He senses an opportunity when those 2 or 3 early wickets fell. We have seen him doing this very regularly.

"Which means 'definitely not'. Yes (he will continue), that is exactly what he said when he was asked about it (in 2020)," he added.

MS Dhoni has played 11 innings in the IPL 2022 season, scoring 199 runs at an average of 39.80 and a strike rate of 132.66 with one half-century.

Dhoni had opened up on his IPL future in the lead up to their game against SRH on April 30, which was also his first match as captain in the 2022 edition.

"You will definitely see me in the yellow jersey [next year], whether this yellow jersey or some other yellow jersey, that's a different thing," he had said at the toss.

Under MS Dhoni, CSK have won four IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. However, he decided to pass the leadership baton to Jadeja ahead of the 2022 season.

The move didn’t work out well as the defending champions lost 6 out of their 8 games under Jadeja. After Dhoni took over, CSK won two out of their four matches but with the five-wicket loss against MI on Thursday (May 12), the four-time champions were knocked out of the playoffs race.

Chennai Super Kings will take on table-toppers Gujarat Titans in their next match on May 15.