Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar said on Sunday, May 14 that the Indian Premier League will benefit if MS Dhoni carries on and plays for one or a couple more seasons, adding that the Chennai Super Kings captain is not a once-in-a-generation but once-in-a-century player.
Gavaskar’s comments came after Chennai Super Kings played their final home game of the group stages of IPL 2023. The former India captain said everybody wants to see more of MS Dhoni even as speculation about his retirement from IPL is rife.
Gavaskar came up with a heartwarming moment at the MA Chidambaram Stadium as he joined CSK’s post-match lap of honour to thank the Chepauk crowd and got his shirt autographed from the World Cup-winning former captain.
It was an emotional moment for CSK players as they went around Chepauk, acknowledging and thanking the incredible support over the home games in IPL 2023 despite a defeat in their final group game at the venue to Kolkata Knight Riders.
“KP (Kevin Pietersen) spoke about it earlier, about the Impact Player. As an impact player, he can stick around and play. Players like him come once in a century, not even once in a generation. And therefore, you just want to see more and more of them. We are hoping this is not the last hurrah and that he will be around for some more time to come,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Dhoni has remained tight-lipped about his plans even as speculation about his retirement has been doing the rounds. When Danny Morrison talked about his ‘farewell’ season, Dhoni responded to the popular commentator that only he was saying that New Zealander was his farewell season and not him, hinting he might carry on for another year.
MS Dhoni’s former India and CSK teammate Suresh Raina also said Dhoni had told him he would play another season.
However, Dhoni has been bogged down in IPL 2023 by a knee injury scare which has raised concerns.
“I think everybody wants to keep going. With the impact player becoming more relevant now, I think he can. Yes, absolutely. This is the one tournament he needs to get up for. He can rest his body. If something is wrong with his knee, he can try and sort it out over the next couple of months. Why not? He is a fit guy, he is an athlete,” Pietersen said.
“He must love this. Why would he want to give this away? He is under no pressure. He doesn’t have to perform. He just needs to be MS Dhoni. And for his kids, for his wife, for his familyâ€æ how amazing must this have been? Watching this lap of honour,” he added.
Despite the defeat to KKR, CSK retained their No. 2 spot in the points table. The 4-time champions will face Delhi Capitals in Delhi in their final league game on Saturday, May 20.
