Speculations are rife that Dhoni will retire from professional cricketer after the IPL 2024 season.
While Dhoni has kept his cards close, Virat Kohli has dropped a massive hint on the veteran wicketkeeper’s future, saying that the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday (May 18) might be the last time they will play together.
“For fans to see him (Dhoni) play in any stadium in India is a big thing. Me and him playing again, maybe for the last time, you never know – that is a special thing,” Kohli said on JioCinema.
“We have had some great memories, some great partnerships for India, it’s a great occasion for fans to see us together,” he added.
Virat Kohli made his India debut under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in 2008 and the RCB star went down the memory lane while speaking about the CSK icon’s mindset.
Kohli said Dhoni was someone who used to remain unperturbed by what the rest of the world was saying about his tactics during the chase.
“People used to say the same about Mahi bhai. ‘Why is he taking the game to 20th over or 50th over.’ But how many matches did he finish for India!
“He’s probably the only person who knows what he’s doing! And he’s finishing the game from there. For me, that’s muscle memory. He knows if he takes the match till the last over, he’ll win the game.
“My mindset was different. I used to think let’s finish the game in the 49th over (in ODIs) or 19th over (in T20s). If he was batting with me at the end, then the thinking was different.
“He will take the game into the last over where the opposition team is shivering in fear.”
RCB and CSK will face each other in a potential do-or-die clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. The match is in danger of being washed out and in that case, both teams will be awarded a point each. However, RCB will crash out of the tournament while CSK will enter the IPL 2024 playoffs.
As of now, the defending champions are holding the fourth spot in the team standings with 14 points from 13 games. On the other hand, RCB are placed at the seventh position with 12 points from 13 matches.