'Nothing for me to decide as of now' - Dhoni on his IPL future

MS Dhoni, who will turn 44 this July, knows that he doesn't have too much time left in him, but hasn't decided if IPL 2025 will be his last year playing cricket.

"I only play two months in a year and now after this IPL gets over, I have to work hard for another six to eight months just to see if my body will be able to take this kind of pressure and everything," Dhoni said after helping Chennai Super Kings (CSK) win a thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). "So nothing for me to decide as of now, but I feel the love and affection wherever I've been."

Dhoni has been functioning at reduced capacity, with CSK head coach Stephen Fleming also saying that his knees don't allow him to bat for long. On Wednesday, Dhoni walked out in the 13th over after Dewald Brevis was dismissed in their pursuit of 180. He played second fiddle to Shivam Dube before helping CSK across the line with a crucial six off Andre Russell in the final over.

The chase was set up by Brevis and their latest recruit Urvil Patel, who had made his IPL debut on Wednesday. Urvil, who had replaced Shaik Rasheed at the top, launched the second ball he faced for six and went onto hit three more sixes during his 31 off 11 balls at a strike rate of 281.81. Brevis then took charge, smashing a 22-ball half-century, including a sequence of 6,4,4,6,6,4 against seamer Vaibhav Arora. Dhoni suggested that real-time match scenarios are the ideal ground to test the skills and temperament of youngsters. Having been knocked out of contention of the playoffs, CSK are using their last few games this season to build for IPL 2026.

"The thing is these are the players who are part of us right now... so we have got an opportunity to test them," Dhoni said. "You may see them in the nets, you may see them in the practice game, but nothing like a real match, you know, so we are out of the tournament.

"We had three games [remaining], so you give them a chance and see how they react. It's not the technical aspect...What we want to see is the approach and the mental toughness because that's what really counts. It's not the most technically sound batsman who scores a lot of runs, but somebody who's more game aware. You know who understands what the bowler is looking to do, if he sets up a field, okay according to this field you know what he will bowl. What is a bluff ball? You know nowadays it's big."