MS Dhoni, former captain of India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), conceded he would feel "useless" on the ground if he weren't standing in front of the wickets because wicket-keeping helps him to observe the game well.
Even though he relinquished the captaincy of CSK, the 43-year-old remains a crucial member of the team, and the franchise puts a lot of faith in his experience. Dhoni has been with CSK since the early days of the IPL, excluding two seasons when the team was suspended, and has guided them to five titles and ten finals.
"If I'm not taking the wickets, I don't feel like I'm doing a lot on the field because that's where I can read the game best. It's hard, but that's what's so exciting about it. Over the last few years—be it two or five—my franchise has spoken to me and said play for as long as you want.". Even if I'm sitting idle on a chair, they'll tell me, 'Don't worry, you play.' I want to play cricket, so I'm playing one year at a time," Dhoni explained in a video published by Star Sports on X.
Dhoni had passed on the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad last season, and he is currently leading the team. CSK began their IPL 2025 journey in style with a comfortable victory against Mumbai Indians at Chepauk on Sunday.
Though no longer the official captain, Dhoni remains actively involved in field adjustments and offering guidance to Gaikwad during matches. Following their win against Mumbai, he praised Gaikwad’s leadership and revealed that the young skipper independently makes most on-field decisions.
"After IPL last season, I told him pretty much straight away, 'There's a 90% chance you will captain next season, so get your mind ready.' Before the tournament started, I also said to him, 'If I offer you advice, you don't have to take it. I'll try to keep out of the way as much as possible,'" Dhoni revealed on the JioHotstar show The MS Dhoni Experience.
"Plenty of guesses were made about me taking the calls behind his back, but the truth is, he took 99% of the decisions. The bowling changes, where we placed people in the field, all the decisions were taken by him. I was always there to cover for him and he did an amazing job keeping the team balanced," Dhoni further added.
With 265 IPL matches to his credit, Dhoni has scored 5,243 runs with 24 half-centuries. CSK will now play Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their second match of the season at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
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