Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming revealed that CSK skipper MS Dhoni hasn’t indicated anything about IPL 2023 being his last season in CSK colours. The 41-year-old is widely expected to hang up his boots after playing in front of the home crowd in Chennai this year.
There has been running speculation that Dhoni will play his last season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 16th edition of IPL. The talks regarding his retirement from the IPL have been doing the rounds since 2020, the year in which he announced his retirement from international cricket.
Earlier in post-match presentations, Dhoni admitted that he is “in the last phase of his career” and thanked the fans for coming in large numbers to support him throughout the country. Speaking to the media, after their loss against CSK head coach dropped a bombshell reply when asked about CSK Skipper’s retirement plans.
“No, he hasn’t indicated anything,” Stephen Fleming On Dhoni’s Retirement Talks.
The IPL is being played in the traditional home-and-away format this year after a long gap. And many believe that IPL 2023 could be the last season for MS Dhoni. 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. It will interesting to see whether the Indian legend hangs up his boots after this season or continue to play for CSK.
Dhoni is unarguably one of the greatest Indian captains in the history of cricket winning three ICC titles for India. He has been captaining the Chennai franchise since the inaugural edition (2008) and led the team to become the second most successful franchise winning 4 IPL titles in the cash-rich league.
They Are Leading The Attack, It Is A Tough Ask – Stephen Fleming On CSK Pacers Performance Against PBKS
Stephen Fleming defended young fast bowlers Akash Singh and Tushar Deshpande for leaking runs against the Punjab Kings stating that they have done so well throughout the tournament and it would be really hard to criticize them for the one-off game in the league and reckoned that the pitch got little better with the dew setting up in the 2nd innings.
“Not really. The boys have done well. You have to acknowledge (Tushar) Desphande, Akash Singh. They are leading the attack, it’s a tough ask. On a wicket that was getting better with a little bit of dew, it was always going to be tough,” Stephen Fleming said.
With the last ball loss against Punjab Kings, the four-time champions have lost two matches in a row and will look to make a comeback quickly when their take on Lucknow Super Kings on May 3 in Ekana Stadium.