“Definitely” – MS Dhoni confirms that he will lead Chennai in the next season!

Whether it’s a masterstroke or just a mirage, we are not sure but before challenging Rajasthan last night, MS Dhoni confirmed that he will continue with the Chennai franchise and will also lead the side. As reported by ESPNCricinfo, Ravindra Jadeja will continue as a player while Dhoni will look forward to groom a young captain who can lead the Chennai team in his absence. His presence will give Chennai a lot of courage to do better but like said it’s a mirage or a masterstroke?

Before the toss when Ian Bishop asked about his future, Dhoni said how he wanted to thank all the Chennai supporters before calling it a day. If that’s the only reason he aims to continue playing, it can be a boomerang for the franchise. With just 232 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 123, Dhoni is not getting any better. If he would have played domestic cricket, things could have been different but the four-time Indian T20 League winning captain only plays cricket during these two months and it’s harsh to expect a match winning knock from him.

Thus, the intention of continuing cricket just to say goodbye to the fans is not the right thing to do. Yes, he’s a legendary player and a captain who has given India and Chennai so much deserves this kind of a sendoff but that might not help the franchise. Nevertheless, as long as Dhoni plays, fans will stick in front of the TV sets, Chennai supporters will still have faith in him and MS Dhoni might prove everyone wrong and inspire the team to lift their 5th title!

“Definitely [I will play in 2023]. It's a simple reason: it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you [to the fans]. Mumbai is one place where, as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But it wouldn't be nice to the Chennai fans”, he said when asked about his future.

The legend added, “And also, hopefully next year there will be an opportunity where the teams will be travelling so it will be a like thank you to all the different places where we will be playing games at different venues. Whether it will be my last year or not that's a big question, because you know we can't really predict about something two years down the line. But definitely I'll be working hard to come back strong next year”.

For Chennai to get the result next year, Dhoni and company needs to work really hard to build a perfect set-up. Currently, there are a lot of slots that the team needs to fill and one has to start with the bowling line-up. There’s potential but in T20 Cricket, you need instant results which the Chennai bowlers are not able to provide. Will things change next year? One can definitely hope.