MS Dhoni on retirement: 'IPL has taken a toll, I have 8-9 months to decide'

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni said he would take a call on retirement in eight-nine months as the IPL season “takes a toll” considering his nature of being an “annoying skipper”.

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CSK reached the IPL final on Tuesday for an unprecedented 10^th time, beating Gujarat Titans (GT) by 15 runs. With the final being played at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, Chepauk roared for the last time for ‘thalla’ and Harsha Bhogle asked the question that everyone had: ‘Would you return next season?’

“Frankly, it takes a heavy toll. I have been out of home for literally four months,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.

“I will always come to CSK. I have been out of home from January, been practicing since March, so we will see. January 31 was when I got out of the house, finished my work, and started practicing from 2nd or 3rd of March. It takes a lot, but I have ample time to decide.”

“I don’t know… I have 8-9 months to decide. Why take that headache now. I have ample time to decide. The auction is in December,” the 41-year-old added.

Dhoni has been with CSK right from the inaugural IPL season in 2008, and has led the “Yellow Brigade” to four titles, the last of those coming in 2021.

Personally, Dhoni has had a quiet season with the bat, managing just 104 runs from 15 matches at an average of 34.67, and has also struggled physically while running between the wickets. Yet, the World Cup-winner has not missed a game this season.

“I will always be there for CSK, whether that is in the playing form or sitting somewhere outside…I don’t really know.”

CSK, who had finished ninth in 2022, dished out a commanding performance to outclass Gujarat Titans.

“I think IPL is too big to say it is another final. It is 10 teams it is even tougher, it is hard work of more than two months, lots of characters, everybody has contributed, middle order didn’t get ample opportunity but very happy to be where we are.

“I won’t say it is just another final. It is hard work of more than two months because of which we are standing over here. Lot of character shown by the individuals, from where we started to where we are, and I feel everybody has contributed.

“Yes, the middle order has not got ample opportunity, but in between everybody has got a chance to chip in and they have done that,” Dhoni said.

“GT are a fantastic team and they’ve chased very well, so the thought was to get them in. But it was a good toss to lose. If Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) gets conditions that help him, he’s very difficult to hit. His bowling changed the game. Not to forget his partnership with Moeen.”

MS Dhoni labelled himself to be an “annoying captain” with the frequent bowling and fielding changes.

“You see the wicket and according to that you keep adjusting the field. I can be a very annoying captain, I keep shifting fielders 2-3 feet. Only request I ask from the fielders is, keep an eye on me. If there’s a dropped catch there will be no reaction (from me), just keep an eye on me,” said the veteran.

Both Deepak Chahar and Matheesha Pathirana have been impressive this season, and Dhoni explained how the team management gives confidence to the pacers.

“We try to create an environment and work out what is the strength of a fast bowler. We try to give them confidence and tell them ‘please try to explore your bowling’. We try to motivate them as much as possible. Support staff is there, Bravo and Eric are there.”

‘We conceded 15 extra runs’

Gujarat Titans conceded 35 runs in the last three overs to let CSK post 172/7, with 15 of those runs coming in the last over bowled by Mohammed Shami.

Skipper Hardik Pandya felt that making “basic errors” cost GT the game.

“I think we were quite spot-on (with the ball), but we made basic errors and that costed us the game. The kind of bowlers we had, I felt we conceded 15 extra runs. A lot of things we did right. We bowled a couple of soft balls in between.

“We were executing our plans and then in between we gave some runs. I don’t think we need to look much into it. We have to play two days later, we have to play one more game to make sure we reach the final. Just focus on the things that we’ve done really well this season,” said Hardik.

Hardik hoped GT would seal a final berth with a win in Qualifier 2, and more importantly, another chance to meet Dhoni.

“That’s the beauty about him (Dhoni), with his mind and the way he uses the bowlers, he’ll make sure that you’ll feel like he’s adding 10 runs. We kept losing wickets, he kept making sure that he used the right bowlers, happy for him as well. It would be a really good sight to meet him on Sunday if we can win the next game,” the 29-year-old.

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