Chennai Super Kings’ captain and five-time IPL champion Mahendra Singh Dhoni teased a potential return next year and hinted that this was not his last Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
After Chennai Super Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets (DLS) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the CSK skipper, who equalled Rohit Sharma as the captain with the most IPL titles, said that announcing his retirement will be the "easy thing" but he wants to train for the next nine months and try to play in the next season as a "gift" for his fans.
"Looking for an answer? Circumstantially if you see this is the best time for me to announce retirement. But the amount of love and affection that I have been shown, wherever I have been this year…I think the easy thing for me to say would be to say 'Thank you very much', but the tough thing for me would to work hard for nine months and come back and play at least one more season of IPL. But a lot depends on the body. It would take 6-7 months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side. It's not easy for me but the way they have shown their love and affection, that's something that I need to do," he said at the post-match presentation.
"My eyes were full of water, I needed to take some time off in the dugout. I realised I need to enjoy this. I think they love me for what I am, they love that I am so grounded, I don't try to portray something I'm not. Just keep it simple. Every trophy is special, but what is special about IPL is every crunch game you need to be ready," he added.
Under Dhoni’s captaincy, Chennai Super Kings embellished their already fabulous record in the IPL with a fifth title triumph, beating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in a thrilling summit showdown.
B Sai Sudharsan slammed 96 in 47 balls as Gujarat Titans posted 214 for four after being asked to bat first.
Set a revised target of 171 in 15 overs after rain interrupted play at the start of the second innings of a final that was pushed to the reserve day owing to heavy downpour, CSK completed the task in the last ball.
Ravindra Jadeja struck a six and a four off Mohit Sharma in the final two balls to win it for CSK and even as the players in the yellow jerseys ran onto the field, Dhoni remained in the dugout, his eyes closed.
Jadeja
dedicated the victory to none other than the 'Thala', in a post that went viral on social media.
"We did it for ONE and ONLY "MS DHONI. mahi bhai aapke liye toh kuch bhi…," Jadeja tweeted.
