Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan has explained how tough the IPL 2023 season was for MS Dhoni as he played the tournament with an injured knee.

The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman once again led CSK brilliantly and guided them to a record fifth IPL title. While Dhoni did not make a big contribution with the bat, his leadership skill and wicketkeeping made up for it. The reason behind his limited outing with the bat was the injured knee. Dhoni faced only 57 balls in IPL 2023 and still managed to make a mark.

In those 57 deliveries, he smashed 104 runs at a strike-rate of 182.46 with the help of 3 fours and as many as 10 sixes. Soon after the IPL ended, he went to Mumbai and underwent a knee surgery in order to get ample time to recover and train before the next edition of the IPL.

CSK CEO on MS Dhoni:

In a recent interview, Viswanathan opened up on MS Dhoni’s struggles with his knee during IPL 2023. The CSK CEO stated that although the captain was in great pain, he never complained to the team. Viswanathan heaped praise on Dhoni for his commitment and his leadership. He also stated that Dhoni is ‘quite happy’ and recovering after the knee surgery.

“We never asked him things like ‘do you want to play or do you want to sit out.’ If he can’t, he would’ve told us straightaway,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told ESPNcricinfo Tamil. “We knew it was a struggle for him to play, but his commitment to the team, his leadership and how the team benefits everyone knows. From that perspective, you have to appreciate him.

“Till the final, he never complained about his knee to anybody. Though everyone knew, and you would’ve seen him struggling while running, he never complained even once. After the final, he said, ‘okay, I’ll have a surgery.’ He’s finished his surgery, he’s quite happy, he’s recovering.”

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