MS Dhoni has started his preparations for the next season of the Indian Premier League which is expected to get underway in late March. The Chennai Super Kings captain has played in all 16 seasons of the IPL so far – 15 of them for CSK, two for Rising Pune Supergiants.
Dhoni led CSK to a memorable fifth title win last year while himself battling a knee injury for which he underwent surgery immediately after the season concluded.
While IPL 2023 was expected to be the final of Dhoni’s career, the CSK skipper later confirmed he’ll be returning for another season.
Deepak Chahar, Dhoni’s CSK teammate, feels that the way 42-year-old has been batting in the nets, he has three more seasons in him.
“I personally think he (Dhoni) has a lot to give to cricket. He can play for another 2-3 seasons. I have seen him bat in the nets. Obviously, he had an injury that anyone can have, people at 24 have that same injury that he has,” Chahar was quoted as saying by PTI.
“He has recovered well. For me personally, he should play for another 2-3 years. (But) it’s his call. He told everyone he is going to play his last game in Chennai. I think he will only decide. For us, it will be very difficult to play for CSK without him. Everyone has (always) seen CSK with Mahi bhai,” he added.
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Chahar though feels that with Dhoni in the final stage of his playing career, he shouldn’t take any pressure for the team and instead enjoy this period.
“He should not be taking it at this time because it is the end of his career. He should be enjoying not taking responsibility and pressure for the team. He has prepared so many cricketers like Ravindra Jadeja and other players, those who can do that job, they are good at it,” Chahar said.
Talking about his own relationship with Dhoni, Chahar said it took 2-3 years for him to get comfortable around the legendary captain.
“It took me 2-3 years to get comfortable around him (Dhoni). I see him as an elder brother and I think he treats me as a younger brother,” he said.
“We have our fun moments. During lockdown, we played a lot of PUBG together. We played a lot of games together. We spent a lot of time together off the field. I’ve been lucky to learn so much from him,” he added.
Chahar is eyeing India comeback with the 2024 T20 World Cup is focus.
The 31-year-old has credited Dhoni for giving him a chance to prove his worth which opened up the doors to the Indian team.
“I would say because of him only I got a chance to play for India because before that, he gave me a really big chance to play all the 14 games in IPL. In 2018, I played all the 14 games,” Chahar said.
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