'My last T20 will be in Chennai.' MS Dhoni clears the air on his IPL future, hopes for a Chepauk farewell

There's some good news for Mahendra Singh Dhoni fans. The 41-year-old on Sunday made his followers happy as he indicated that he would continue playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League, for at least one more season. And his reason: he hopes for a Chepauk farewell.

"I have always planned my cricket," Dhoni said at an event hosted by CSK to felicitate the team's win.

"The last ODI that I played in India was in Ranchi. Hopefully my last T20 will be in Chennai. Whether it's next year or in five years' time, I don't know."


After CSK won the IPL 2021 final against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in September, Dhoni had said that any decision about his retirement would be taken keeping in mind the needs of the franchise. With the IPL auction slated to happen soon, and with teams being allowed to retain only four players, Dhoni's future seemed uncertain. CSK boss boss N Srinivasan had hinted that Dhoni will continue to remain associated with the franchise in some capacity.

Dhoni has been the constant in the CSK squad as captain right from the first season in 2008. Under his captaincy, the team won the trophy four times. Reminiscing about his association, the former Team India captain said that he had no idea that he would be selected by the franchise in the auction of 2008.


"The association started in 2008 when it comes to IPL, but it started before that when it came to play some of the other formats," Dhoni said.

"One of the most memorable being my Test debut, you know, which happened is in Chennai. I think I never knew that I'll be picked by CSK, I was in the auction and I got picked and it gave me an opportunity to understand the culture, which was very different from where I actually came from.

"And what made it even more different was I'm like a wanderer. My parents came from Uttar Pradesh. It was initially UP, then it became Uttarakhand. I was born in Ranchi which was Bihar, then later on became Jharkhand. I got a job at the age of 18, with Railways in West Bengal, you know, Kharagpur and then I came to Chennai and I believe Chennai taught me a lot. Tamil Nadu taught me a lot when it came to how to conduct myself, how to appreciate the game. Each and every game that we played at Chepauk the fans came and supported good cricket

CSK's entry in the IPL this year was somewhat muted with an ageing squad and "Dad-bods" drawing a lot of flak as well. But they went on to win nine of the 14 league games to finish second on the table, then thrashed Delhi Capitals in the semis to reach the final. They beat KKR in a smart game to claim the title.

Dhoni acknowledging the bumpy ride that CSK witnessed, said that it was the unconditional support and backing of the franchise and fans that gave the players the confidence to bounce back.

"We had a very good run when it came to franchise cricket but it became interesting in 2020. That was the first season where we didn't qualify to the next stage of IPL. It gave us a chance to test the real character of the franchise, because when the going is good, you always keep talking about what you do, what is the process that you follow, but it gave us an opportunity to earn the respect of the players and the fans, you know, because we said we believe in the process, we don't believe in the result.

"And the result definitely didn't go in our favour in 2020 and I feel we earned the respect of the men because they said this is what they do. They walk the talk and that's one of the main reasons why I believe we could come back strongly and we were able to win that title."