“I want to spend a bit more time with the Army because last few years I have not been able to do that,” says CSK Captain MS Dhoni

The captain of the Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni, has shared his post-retirement intentions, stating that he would like to spend more time with the Indian Army. Although Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020, he is still active in the Indian Premier League.

In what may be his last IPL season, Dhoni will be captaining CSK. He guided the Chennai franchise to their fifth IPL championship last season, when they defeated the Gujarat Titans, captained by Hardik Pandya, in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

While fans of cricket constantly anticipate seeing Dhoni play in the Indian Premier League, there is also a great deal of conjecture about his post-cricket career. In response to a fan’s query at an event, Dhoni stated that he would like to continue serving in the Army for a little while when he retires. After the victory against GT in the previous season’s championship match, Dhoni said he would play for a minimum of another year.

“I have never thought about it. I am still playing cricket. IPL I am still playing. It will be very interesting to see what I end up doing after cricket. I think for sure, I want to spend a bit more time with the Army because last few years I have not been able to do that,” explained Dhoni.

Many rumours have surfaced about Dhoni’s impending retirement. The 42-year-old was questioned about his plans for the 2024 season following the IPL 2023. Dhoni responded by saying he will play for another season.

While the Chennai Super Kings prepare for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, there’s still much uncertainty around MS Dhoni’s replacement. In 2022, Ravindra Jadeja was given the opportunity to lead CSK, but the plan failed so miserably that Dhoni had to be brought back to lead the team midway through the season. Even though it seems doubtful that Jadeja would lead the squad again, CSK is still looking for a replacement captain.

In the Territorial Army, MS Dhoni, the former captain of India, is an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment (106 Para TA battalion). Dhoni received a distinguished award from the Indian Army in 2011, and in 2015, he qualified as a paratrooper.

Questions regarding MS Dhoni’s succession plans were posed to CSK head coach Stephen Fleming at a press conference at the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai.

“We’ve had succession plans for MS for about 10 years. It is going to be a talking point., but he is as engaged and as enthusiastic as I have seen him for a while. While that passion is there for the team and franchise, we’ll roll on,” Fleming stated.

CSK TEAM FOR IPL 2024

MS Dhoni (c), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.