The schedule for the world’s famous T20 league IPL’s 16th season was released on Friday. With the opening date of this season coming to the fore, the buzz about the retirement of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also intensified. But Dhoni himself has made clear that IPL 2023 will be his last season as a player. On May 14, Dhoni will play his IPL match at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai if CSK qualifies. However, if CSK cannot qualify for playoffs, the match played against Kolkata Knight Riders will be their last.
Dhoni has already retired from international cricket and currently playing only in IPL. He will be playing for the last time in IPL 2023.
Dhoni has been leading CSK since the inaugural season in 2008, but for two years, he was leading Rising Pune Supergiants due to the suspension of the CSK teams. After that, he returned to the CSK team again and started leading the team as before.
In 2022, Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain, and the team’s captaincy was handed over to Ravindra Jadeja. Under Jadeja’s captaincy, CSK had a tough time as the team lost 6 out of their first 8 matches, and later during the middle of the season, Dhoni had to retake charge of the team.
However, BCCI set the stage for Dhoni’s last season, which is undoubtedly sad news for his fans; the main problem is the succession. Every cricket fan’s question is who will lead the team after Dhoni’s retirement as CSK will never return to Ravindra Jadeja, so the option for captaincy may be given to Ben Stokes, Ajinkya Rahane, or Ruturaj Gaikwad.
But Ben Stoke may not be given the responsibility of CSK captaincy for only one reason: his responsibility of playing the international matches for his country and his history of injuries. This is always a problem of team combination by making foreign players captain.
