As CSK win 5th IPL title, MS Dhoni offers much-awaited update about his future

After MS Dhoni won the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, he did not choose a fairytale ending by bidding the game a final goodbye. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper instead said that he wanted to "gift" his fans another season even if it was "tough" to work on his body for the next nine months to play again.

In the IPL 2023 final, which went on for over two days, Dhoni-led CSK defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets by Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method. CSK, whose target was brought down from 214 in 20 overs to 171 in 15 overs, needed 10 runs off the final two deliveries at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

Ravindra Jadeja struck a six and followed with a four off Mohit Sharma's bowling to take CSK to a fifth IPL title, equalling Mumbai Indians' record of five trophies in the tournament.

Will MS Dhoni play in IPL again?

Throughout this season, there were several instances when Dhoni was asked about his future; but the former India captain never gave a definite answer.

Even though Dhoni got out for a golden duck on Sunday, it could still be a perfect goodbye to the game after captaining CSK to yet another trophy. However, the CSK captain has acknowledged that since he has received an abundance of love from his fans and supporters this year, he would want to work hard on his body and be ready for one more season for them.

"If you see circumstantially this is the best time for me to announce retirement. But with the amount of love and affection I've been shown wherever I've been this year, the easy thing for me would be to say, 'Thank you very much'. But the tough thing for me is to work hard for another nine months and come back and play at least one more season of IPL.

"But a lot depends on the body, I have six-seven months to decide and it will be more like a gift from my side [to the fans]. It's not easy for me but the way they've shown their love and affection, that's something I need to do for them," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation in Ahmedabad.

Dhoni has arguably one of the biggest fan bases regardless of the ground he sets foot on. This season, there were so many occasions when the yellow colour outnumbered the home side, just because of one man – Dhoni.

MS Dhoni: 'My eyes filled with tears'

Soon to turn 42, Dhoni revealed that he got emotional during IPL 2023's emotional game, in which CSK played against GT in Ahmedabad.

"You do get emotional for the simple fact that it's the last part of my career and I think it started over here when I was playing the first game [of IPL 2023]. I just walked out and the full house was chanting my name.

"My eyes filled with [tears] and I just stood there in the dugout for a while, and I took my time and I realised that I want to enjoy it and not take the pressure. I think it was the same thing in Chennai when I played my last game there, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can," added Dhoni.

In IPL 2023, Dhoni could not contribute much with the bat. He batted at Nos. 7 and 8 while nursing an injury to his left knee. But he still managed to entertain his fans by striking at 182.45 in 12 innings, scoring 104 runs off just 57 balls with 10 sixes.

In the same interview after CSK's victory, Dhoni was asked how he remained grounded despite the fandom and love around him. To which, the CSK superstar replied, "I think they love me for who I am. Being grounded is something they like in me. Also, the fact that the kind of cricket I play, everyone in the stadium feels they can play that kind of cricket because there's nothing orthodox about it."

He went on to add that he believes that the fans relate to him more than anyone else and he does not want to change anything about himself and wants to "keep it simple."