“Do we want him to play all his life?” - Kapil Dev makes a strong statement on constant chatter around MS Dhoni’s IPL future 

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has questioned the constant debate over MS Dhoni’s future in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Reacting to suggestions that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain should return to the IPL next season, he stated that instead of speculating on his future, everyone must be thankful that the legend has been able to play for 15 years.

Ever since the start of IPL 2023, there has been continuous suspense over whether Dhoni will be retiring from the T20 league after the ongoing season. While the man himself hasn’t confirmed anything, despite nursing a knee injury, fans, and cricket pundits have been debating the topic almost on a daily basis.

Speaking to APB News, Kapil wondered why people are going overboard. Sharing his views on the hot topic, he commented:

“He has been playing IPL for 15 years. Why is it that we are only talking about Dhoni? He has done his work. What more do we want from him? Do we want him to play all his life? That is not going to happen. We should instead be thankful that he played for 15 years.

“Whether he plays next year or not, before departing he has played impressively. He may not have scored big runs but he led the team to the final and it shows what is the importance of a skipper in the game of cricket.”

CSK-led Dhoni will be taking on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday, May 29. The match was scheduled to be held on Sunday but had to be moved to the reserve day owing to incessant rain.

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“He takes someone else’s trash and makes them a treasure” - Former CSK teammate on Dhoni

Former Australian and Chennai Super Kings batter Matthew Hayden recently termed Dhoni as a magician, who takes someone else’s trash and makes them a treasure.

Sharing his views after MSD-led CSK to their 10th IPL final, Hayden was quoted as telling PTI:

"MS is a magician. He takes someone else’s trash and makes them a treasure. He is a very skillful and positive captain. He said something really interesting which I thought summed up not only his humility and his truth about cricket where he is represented and that is in Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The alignment between that association and the franchise, how strong that is in terms of building that process.

“To me, that is MS. There is a systematic way of going through things and working through them. He did that for India and he is doing it for Chennai Super Kings. Whether he plays or not next year it is almost irrelevant. Personally, I don`t think he will but then he is M S Dhoni.”

Under Dhoni, CSK won the IPL in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021.