Chennai Super Kings (CSK) chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan gave MS Dhoni fans a lot to cheer for when he told inditoday.in that their skipper will play Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2021 and probably in 2022 as well. Speculation is rife about Dhoni’s international future but his availability for CSK in IPL means he is still in the mood to play competitive cricket.
With 2 editions of the IPL set to be played in a span of less than 6 months, provided the novel coronavirus pandemic eases in the near future, MS Dhoni can still make the much-anticipated India return.
MS Dhoni has not played competitive cricket since India’s exit at the 2019 World Cup semi-final and former India batsman Aakash Chopra has reiterated that the former captain might not want to play for India again.
Aakash Chopra believes MS Dhoni’s presence will not be so important for India’s campaign at the 2021 T20 World Cup. The global T20 tournament is scheduled to be held in India in October-November next year.
“I think we can manage without him, let’s be honest. Because we are talking about 2021. It is in India and you definitely want Dhoni to be there in the team and want him to play,” Aakash Chopra said while addressing a fan’s question on his YouTube show #AskAakash.
“However, the first thing, does Dhoni want to play? I have been saying this like a broken record I feel he doesn’t want to play.
“Even if he is available, we are talking about 2021, It is still more than a year to go. So, we have to get used to managing without him and I think we will get used to it by then.
“So I feel his presence is not so important that if he is not there you won’t go on to win the World Cup.”
MS Dhoni reportedly returned to indoor training in Jharkhand recently in the lead up to IPL 2020. The CSK skipper set to reach Chennai later this week and head to the UAE on August 21. Dhoni is part of CSK’s plans for a camp in Chennai before the team flies out of India.
Speaking to this publication, CSK CEO Viswanathan said: “We can expect MS Dhoni to be part of both (IPL 2020 and 2021) and probably for even the next year, 2022.”
Despite the speculation around his international future, MS Dhoni himself has kept mum about his plans. While the team management did not rule out Dhoni’s chances of return in the lead up to the now-postponed 2020 T20 World Cup, it remains to be seen if Dhoni, who will turn 40 in July next year, will return to the senior side.
Earlier this year, Dhoni’s CSK teammate Harbhajan Singh said the former captain doesn’t want to play for India anymore.
“He wants to play IPL 100 percent. But one needs to know his take on whether he wants to play for India anymore or not. I think he doesn’t want to play for India again. He has played so much for India.
“As far as I know him, he doesn’t want to wear the blue jersey again. He decided that India’s last match in the World Cup was his last. A few people have also told me that this is the case,” Harbhajan said during a social media interaction with Rohit Sharma.