MS Dhoni has been a part of the Chennai Super Kings franchise since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008.
He briefly spent two seasons at Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 and 2017, when CSK, along with RR, served a suspension, but the talismanic wicket-keeper batter returned to his adopted home once the ban was lifted in 2018.
Dhoni has been iconic for CSK in its truest sense, leading them to a record five IPL titles, while the franchise has also reached the final of the competition the most number of times.
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In recent years, however, questions have been raised about whether Dhoni would continue playing for CSK, primarily due to his age. He announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020, but Dhoni continues to don the CSK jersey in the IPL.
After staying silent for quite some time, the 44-year-old former India skipper has finally lifted the lid on whether he will play in the next edition of the IPL in 2026.
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MS Dhoni opens up on his future at CSK
Dhoni recently addressed the burning question, while appearing in a public event, on whether he will continue to play for the franchise.
The CSK icon said: "Me and CSK, we are together. You know, even for the next 15-20 years (crowd cheers). I hope they don't think I'll be playing for another 15-20 years! But yeah. It's not about one year or two years. I will always be sitting in a yellow jersey. You know whether I’ll be playing or not in a while, but yeah, you know yourself.
"Yes, the last couple of years have not been good for us. We have not been up to the mark. But what is important is for you to see the learnings. Yes, you had a bad season. But what went wrong? And that was the question for us last year also."
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Dhoni assumed the captaincy of the CSK in the latter part of the IPL 2025 campaign, after Ruturaj Gaikwad picked up a knee injury, which kept him sidelined.
Providing an update on Gaikwad's condition, Dhoni added: "Rutu will be coming back. He got injured. But he will be coming back. So, we are quite sorted now."
He finally concluded his speech with a heartfelt message, as he concluded: "So, I feel the relationship over the years has grown. It helped me improve as a person. It helped me improve as a cricketer. CSK just happened. I think it's good for Chennai. So, today it's good for me also."
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How did MS Dhoni perform in IPL 2025?
Dhoni had an underwhelming campaign in the IPL 2025 season as he scored just 196 runs in 14 matches and maintained a low strike rate of 135.17.