IPL 2020 : ‘MS Dhoni can play for CSK as long as he wants’, says CSK owner Srinivasan

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni can play in the Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings as long as he wants according to the team owner N. Srinivasan. Speculation is that the 39-year-old might quit the sport altogether if CSK manage to win the IPL this year. 

In an interview to Indian Express, CSK owner N. Srinivasan declared, Dhoni can play for CSK as long as he wants.  

“He can play for CSK as long as he wants. At present, let CSK win the IPL. One of the reasons for CSK’s success under Dhoni is that he never thinks beyond the match. He never gets digressed. And we will follow the same policy now (with regards to Dhoni’s future at CSK after he hangs up his boots),” Srinivasan said. 

Dhoni announced his retirement on Saturday from the international cricket. But it is being speculated he will still continue for CSK for another year. According to Srinivasan, retirement or no retirement CSK is Dhoni’s own team according to the former BCCI president and the bond that exists between two will last for ever. 

 

“A few months ago, pre-Covid, the (CSK) team assembled here (Chennai) to start practising for the IPL. 15,000 to 20,000 people came to the stadium and chanted, ‘Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni’… You don’t see that crowd for a Test match in many places in India. No publicity was given (for practice sessions). People heard he was practising and they came. That is his pop- ularity. He is an icon of India and in Tamil Nadu and Chennai, he is very special.

“I don’t know how the bond between him and Tamil Nadu and Chennai developed. In the early seasons of the IPL, he would come, he would go (out) on his motorbike. People took to him.”

IPL 2020 : Dhoni is the reason why today T20 and IPL is so popular says Srinivasan

According to Srinivasan, Dhoni played a big part in the explosion of public interest in T20 cricket, including the IPL. 

“I think that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the reasons for the burst of interest in T20 league cricket, including the IPL. The people of India have embraced T20 cricket and (its) many heroes, but MS Dhoni is special”. 

Meanwhile, CSK, who started their training camp on Saturday, didn’t return to practice on Sunday due to lockdown in the city. Dhoni, who had last played competitive cricket in the World Cup last year, is all set to return to action when the IPL starts in the UAE on September 19.