Harbhajan Singh Opens Up On MS Dhoni’s Retirement Plans Ahead Of IPL 2023
Mar 18, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has opened up on MS Dhoni’s retirement plans. The former India skipper is all set to lead Chennai Super Kings once again in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).
The talks regarding MS Dhoni’s retirement from the IPL have been doing the rounds since 2020, the year in which he had announced his retirement from international cricket. Before CSK’s last game in IPL 2020, the wicketkeeper-batsman was asked whether it was his last game.
In reply, Dhoni had famously said “definitely not.” After that, many had expected him to retire after leading CSK to their fourth title in 2021. The World Cup-winning captain, however, decided to play in 2022 too.
In 2022 too, it was expected that it might be the final year as he stepped down from the captaincy just a couple of days before the start of the tournament although he was re-appointed as the captain midway through the season.
Harbhajan Singh on MS Dhoni’s retirement:
As MS Dhoni gets ready to play one more season of IPL, not many know whether it will be his last or not. And amidst all the uncertainties, Harbhajan Singh has stated that if the veteran wicketkeeper decides to leave, he will do it in a very sudden manner.
Speaking on the Sports Yaari YouTube channel, Harbhajan said his former India and IPL teammate’s retirement will be very different. It should be recalled that Dhoni’s decision to retire from Tests and then international cricket had come out of the blue.
“See, he is MS Dhoni. Whatever he does, it will be very different. If he is going to leave, he will do it very suddenly. We saw how he left India’s Test captaincy in the same fashion,” said Harbhajan.
“But he always wanted to finish his career in front of CSK fans. That’s very close to him. He wanted to retire in from of them, and that’s a great thing that he thinks of the fans,” Harbhajan added.
Speaking further, Harbhajan revealed that Dhoni has been working very hard ahead of the 2023 IPL. The spin great stated that Dhoni doesn’t leave the nets until his back hurts.
“MS Dhoni has worked very hard ahead of the IPL, you can see that from the size of his biceps. It doesn’t look like he is 41 years old. He reached Chennai quite early, which is a very good sign for CSK. He will bat for around two hours in the nets. He doesn’t leave the nets until his back starts to hurt,” said Harbhajan.
Meanwhile, IPL 2023 is scheduled to begin on March 31. CSK will be in action on the very first day of the tournament when they lock horns against defending champions Gujarat Titans.