Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play IPL 2021, not to retire anytime soon: reports
On Tuesday, team India coach, Ravi Shastri, said that it will be after next year's IPL that Dhoni's international career will be decided.
Mumbai: Ever since India was ousted from 2019 World Cup, there have been several speculations floating around regarding Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement. People thought that he would retire after the world cup was finished, but that’s not the case as things are still not clear.
But, according to emerging reports, it seems that next year will not be the year when MS Dhoni will be hanging up his boots as he plans to play the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. On Tuesday, team India coach, Ravi Shastri, said that it will be after next year’s IPL that Dhoni’s international career will be decided.
According to The Times of India, a source close to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) said, “There will be a big auction before the 2021 IPL and Dhoni has already told us that he will play the tournament. So there's no question of his retirement from the T20 version anytime soon.”
The source also said that Dhoni is so committed to CSK that he would go in the auction pool for IPL 2021 so that Chennai don’t have to spend money in retaining him and will just have to use the Right-To-Match for him.
The source said, “He wants to go back to the auction pool for the big auction that will take place ahead of the 2021 season. That will give CSK the option of using the Right-to-Match card to pick him, maybe for a lower price. Being the captain he is, Dhoni is ready to sacrifice money for the CSK cause.”
He added, “We know what Dhoni means to us. We may not let him go back to the auction pool.”
On MSD’s retirement rumours, he said, “There has been a perception that the Indian team management doesn't know what Dhoni is doing, but it may not be completely true. If he has a good IPL, he will very much be part of India's scheme of things in the T20 World Cup in December.”
The source also said that the question of Dhoni’s retirement will be discussed only after 2021’s IPL. He said, “It will be after the 2021 IPL that the question of retirement will come, if at all...And even if he retires, Dhoni will always be the mentor of CSK.”