"No one has said that this ... ":Deepak Chahar on MS Dhoni's IPL Future

image-lfg9vg5fMS Dhoni in nets ahead of IPL 2023 [Source: Twitter]

The upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 is back in the old format and will be held on a home-and-away basis, much to the excitement of the fans, who have been waiting to see their stars. One such city is Chennai, which is gearing up to witness their Thala Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again on the field, donning the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey.

Dhoni, along with several other members of the squad, have started their pre-season camp and are seen sweating it out at Chepauk. However, much of the chatter around CSK so far has been about Dhoni's future with the franchise, with them bringing England's Test skipper Ben Stokes into the side.

One of Dhoni's most trusted bowlers, Deepak Chahar, who is hopeful of making a comeback after an injury lay-off, spoke to the media about Dhoni's present and future.

Answering a query from News India Sports, the swing-bowler hoped that Dhoni would play for more years, and categorically denied any such talks about this being Dhoni's final season whatsoever.

Here's what Chahar replied

“No one has said that this would be his final year. At least, he hasn’t. Hopefully, he will play more. We don’t know any such thing, we want him to play as much as he can.

He knows when to retire, we saw it when he did in Tests and international cricket. No one else knows. I just hope he continues to play, it’s a privilege to play under him. It has been a dream to play with him. He’s in good touch as well, you will see that when he bats in the IPL this year,”

The former India skipper last year spoke about playing in front of the Chennai crowd once again, with the tournament being held across 12 venues. 

They will take on defending champions Gujarat Titans on March 31.