MS Dhoni is probably playing his final IPL season for CSK.
MS Dhoni is one of the cult figures in not only Indian cricket but in IPL as well. Dhoni has captained Chennai Super Kings from 2008-2015 and then 2018-2023. He has won five IPL trophies for the Yellow Army and two Champions League T20 wins as well.
Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, with his final outing being the semi-final of the ICC World Cup in 2019. Dhoni has continued to play in the IPL, winning the title in 2018, 2021, and most recently in 2023.
Now at the age of 42, MS Dhoni is one of the few cricketers to play in all the seasons of the IPL thus far, but there is a feeling that this season might be the last time the legendary keeper-batter is wearing the yellow jersey. A sign of this was Dhoni handing over the captaincy of the franchise to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
IPL 2024: “Shouldn't play if he wants to bat at number 9,” Harbhajan Singh’s bold remark on MS Dhoni
CSK clashed with Punjab Kings recently in Dharamshala which saw the hosts being restricted to 139/9 in the chase of 169 runs. Ravindra Jadeja gave an all-round performance as he scored 43 off 26 balls and also scalped three big wickets for CSK. However, it was a disappointing outing with the bat for MS Dhoni as the CSK star got out for a golden duck.
Dhoni walked out to bat at No. 9, a thing which he did for the time in 18 years. In the 19th over of CSK's innings, Dhoni was completely foxed by a slower delivery from Harshal Patel that dipped rapidly and went right under his bat and hit the stumps.
Meanwhile, Preity Zinta was asked by a fan on X to bring MS Dhoni to PBKS, and the actress replied: “Everyone wants him and everyone is his fan including me. Yesterday was bittersweet. I wanted us to win and him to hit some big sixes but we lost and he got out. The only bright spot was our bowlers did so well in restricting them but eventually it was not enough.”
In another question on social media, Zinta was asked to share her views on the performance of Punjab Kings in this IPL 2024. PBKS are 8th on the points table with 4 wins from 11 games and have 8 points to their name with an NRR of -0.187.
Zinta replied: “Obviously, not very happy. We lost four games in the last ball. We lost our captain to injury. Some games were spectacular and some were not up to the mark. We will only do well in the future if we win our home games. Big thank you our fans for always supporting us through thick and thin”