“He will play one more season” - Former CSK batter makes massive claim on MS Dhoni’s future post IPL 2025

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Abhinav Mukund has opined that MS Dhoni should play one more season for the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to oversee the rebuilding phase. The Yellow Army have made significant changes to their squad midway through a forgettable 2025 season, while more tweaks await during the mini-auction later on.

CSK have roped in Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, and Dewald Brevis as replacement signings in the 2025 campaign. With serious doubts regarding the future of several of their senior players after failing to qualify for the playoffs two years in a row now, the franchise are heading towards a transition, bordering on a state of total revamp.

Amid such rapid changes, veteran wicket-keeper MS Dhoni's presence becomes all the more important. The CSK skipper, currently stepping in for the injured Ruturaj Gaikwad, has not commented on his future as of yet. He was retained as an uncapped player for INR 4 crore ahead of the three-year cycle.

Abhinav Mukund opined that MS Dhoni should stay for one more season to ensure that the transition is smooth. He further added that it should work for CSK since Dhoni is still performing his role as a wicket-keeper batter in the side.

"Leave age out of it, he (MS Dhoni) is fit enough to play, we have already seen that. I think he will play one more season because CSK are in a rebuilding phase. His role would be to establish a foundation of good spin-hitters and good top-order batters, so that CSK can score at least 200 runs on a regular basis," Abhinav Mukund said on ESPN Cricinfo.

"It will be difficult for CSK to conduct the rebuild without MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, because if you go with a very young team without a set leadership group, then it will be a big problem. So, Dhoni and Jadeja are still both very important players, and CSK should define their roles going forward," he added.

CSK are placed at the bottom of the table with only three wins in their IPL 2025 campaign. They won their season opener against the Mumbai Indians (MI), and then the away clashes against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

MS Dhoni-led CSK to face RR in Delhi on May 20

MS Dhoni and co. will play their first match since the league's resumption against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a neutral venue as part of the rearranged schedule. Both sides have been knocked out of the playoffs place, but there is still a lot to play for.

CSK are among the franchises struck with the unavailability crisis in the IPL. They will not have the services of Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, and Rachin Ravindra for the remainder of the season.