The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) knocked out Chennai Super Kings (CSK) from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, securing a 27-run victory in their final game of the league campaign on Saturday. The result put RCB in the playoffs while CSK were forced to return home after missing out on a spot in the top 4 on the basis of Net Run Rate. While RCB fans were elated to see their team go through to the next round, a sense of sorrow crept inside millions of cricket fans, fearing they've seen the last of MS Dhoni as a player in the T20 league.
As RCB closed in on the win, Dhoni's dejected look on the CSK bench left a feeling of sorrow in the hearts of the fans, with talks of Dhoni's Dhoni's potential retirement gaining momentum on social media. Amid this chatter, "Definitely Not" started to trend on X (formerly Twitter), with former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan leading the talk.
Dhoni hasn't yet clarified his stance on future, deciding to remain mum on the big decision. After CSK won the IPL 2023 title, the former India wicket-keeper batter had said that he plans to continue for at least one more year for his fans.
"Looking for an answer? Circumstantially if you see, this is the best time to announce my retirement. But the amount of love and affection I have been shown wherever I have been this year, the easy thing would be for me to say "Thank you very much", but the tough thing for me is to work hard for another 9 months and come back and play at least 1 more season of IPL. A lot depends on the body, I have 6-7 months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side, it's not easy for me but that's a gift. The way they've shown their love and affection, I think that's something I need to do for them," Dhoni had said after CSK won IPL 2023 final last year.
Ahead of the match between RCB and CSK, Faf du Plessis had quashed talks around Dhoni's retirement, saying such things have bee speculated over the last 6 years.
"People have been talking about MS Dhoni retiring for six years, so it doesn't really change. The conversation is about what we do in our team," Du Plessis said.