There have been numerous talks centering on whether MS Dhoni would hang up his boots for the IPL, especially following his last league match of the 2025 season with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Gujarat Titans. Although Dhoni has not yet announced his retirement, many fans feel this must be the last season for him since he had just turned 43 and would be 44 years old by the next season.
This year hasn’t been kind to CSK. Having already won the IPL five times before, they are usually reliable, but this year they could manage only 4 wins out of 14 matches and finished at the bottom for the very first time since the league expanded to 10 teams! Dhoni retook the captaincy of CSK after Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury, but hardly anything changed after all.
While his fitness was under scrutiny at this age, not helped by a knee issue along with less training time, Dhoni was not really the player he used to be. Dhoni actually did better than usual in scoring this year, but at the expense of the strike rate; CSK concluded the season with a flurry, though, a massive win against Gujarat, which was, however, barely a consolation.
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Afterwards, the Star Sports channel bore witness to a fiery argument between former CSK player Suresh Raina and ex-cricketer Aakash Chopra, as they held differing views on Dhoni’s fitness and his future. Aakash questioned: “Why is Dhoni batting so low down the order? If the top order isn’t doing well, he should be higher up. I’m worried about his fitness.”
Raina defended Dhoni by reminding everyone that Dhoni has been in cricket for over 18 years while still hitting the most sixes. Raina talked about Dhoni who prefers to bat in the last overs and is fit enough to keep wickets at the age of 44. He also said that Dhoni is looking for more options to be given to youngsters like Shivam Dube as they prepare for the T20 World Cup.
When talking about retirement, Dhoni has not reached a final conclusion yet. He will decide it based on how he feels just before IPL 2026. One thing he did say is that Ruturaj Gaikwad will be the captain next season of CSK.
