Dhoni on his IPL future: I have four-five months to decide

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni is going to go back home to Ranchi, "enjoy a few bike rides", and decide a few months down the line whether he is going to return for IPL 2026.

"It depends. Again, I would say the same thing: I have four-five months to decide, there's no hurry to decide what needs to be done," Dhoni said when asked whether he would play next season after their final league game of IPL 2025, an 83-run victory against Gujarat Titans . CSK finished bottom of the league for the first time in 16 seasons, winning only four of their 14 games, and were the first team to be knocked out of contention of the playoffs.

Dhoni turns 44 in July and will be closer to 45 when IPL 2026 comes around. "Every year, it's 15% more effort to keep the body fit - not to forget this is top-level cricket. It's professional cricket - you have to be at your best - and it's not always performance that you can count, because if cricketers start retiring because of performance then a few of them will retire when they're 22.

"What is important to see is how much hunger you have, what kind of fitness you have, and how much you can contribute to the team, and whether the team needs you or not. So I have enough time. I will go back to Ranchi - haven't been home for a long time - enjoy a few bike rides, [take a] couple of months and then decide.

"I'm not saying I'm done, I'm not saying I'm coming back. As I said, I have the luxury of time. When you have the luxury then why not think about it and then decide."

CSK ended their season by making their best score of IPL 2025 - 238 - and then dismissed GT for 147. Anshul Kamboj and Noor Ahmad took three wickets apiece, with Noor finishing with 24 wickets in the season.

"We didn't have a very good season, but good to finish on a good note," Dhoni said. "I think this was one of the perfect performances - from the bowling department, batting department, not to forget the fielding and catching. Throughout the season, I don't think we have caught very well, so this was one game where the catching was also good."

Majority of the crowd in Ahmedabad stayed back for the presentation and started chanting "Dhoni, Dhoni" once he started to speak, wondering if they would see him play again. He took over the captaincy in the middle of the season after CSK's regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad picked up an elbow injury and was ruled out. While CSK could not turn their fortunes around, they started looking at younger batters such as Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Shaik Rasheed and Urvil Patel, apart from Kamboj in the bowling attack.

"When we started the season, we played the first four games at home out of six," Dhoni said. "We won tosses, [and] we decided to bat second because there was a fair amount of dew, but I felt the wicket was better to bat first somehow. In the second innings when we batted, we were under a bit of pressure, and that confidence got sucked away from the batters and that became slightly difficult for us to come back.

"I was more worried about the batting department; at the end of the day, you have to score runs. But now, looking at how everybody is contributing, we look like a side who can put runs on the board, and the maneuvering with the bowlers becomes slightly easy. Yes, there are still a few holes that we would like to fill. But one of the most important things was when Rutu (Gaikwad) comes back next season, at least we are able to give him a team where he just needs to fit in maybe one in the playing XI and he doesn't have to worry about too many things."