New Delhi. Every year questions are raised about former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made Chennai Super Kings champion 5 times. Will he play in the next season? Former Australian legend Matthew Hayden believes that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played his last match in the Indian Premier League. He will be associated with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in some role. Chennai team was out of the tournament after losing the last league match to Royal Challengers.
CSK’s journey in this IPL ended after losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore in its last league match on Friday. In this match, Dhoni played a brilliant inning of 25 runs in 13 balls but it was not enough to take the team to the playoffs. Chasing 219 runs to win, CSK needed 201 runs to reach the final but the team could only score 191 runs for seven wickets. The team needed 17 runs in the last over to reach the final. Dhoni had kept Chennai’s hopes alive by hitting the longest six of this season of 110 meters off Yash Dayal but he was out on the next ball. After this the team could score only one run in four balls.
Dhoni scored 161 runs in the current season at an excellent strike rate of 220.55 and an average of 53.67. He has been the biggest attraction of this IPL so far and his fans were reaching every ground in large numbers. Former opener Hayden, who played in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings, said that he would be surprised if Dhoni is not a part or mentor of CSK in the next season.
Hayden said on ‘Star Sports’ program ‘Cricket Live’, “I think Dhoni has played his last match. It is not that we are seeing Dhoni for the last time in IPL. I would be very surprised if he does not guide or become a part of the CSK family in an official capacity. When you see someone’s career coming to an end, you don’t want that player to farewell with failure.
Hayden, who has played under Dhoni’s captaincy, said, “As a captain, he is the ‘Thala (elder brother)’ of Chennai Super Kings. He uses his brain and all his knowledge of cricket brilliantly.
Tags: csk, Diana Hayden, IPL 2024, ms dhoni
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 19, 2024, 16:25 IST
