'May Be He Has Got..', AB de Villiers Predicts MS Dhoni's IPL Future

image-lpk1kebiMS Dhoni with CSK teammates during IPL 2023 (AP)

Former South African captain and RCB Hall of Famer AB de Villiers has expressed his delight over MS Dhoni’s IPL career extension for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Earlier this week, the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman was retained by the CSK franchise for the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, even though several fans and experts expected his 2023 final appearance to be his swansong game in competitive cricket.

AB de Villiers reacts to MS Dhoni’s IPL future

Fellow batting legend AB de Villiers acknowledged earlier speculations of MS Dhoni’s possible exit from the IPL after the CSK skipper had led his side to title glory at the 2023 event.

The former South African and RCB legend said that he was happy to see Dhoni’s name among CSK’s retained players and claimed that the 42-year-old might play three more seasons for his franchise.

Taking to his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers said:

“I see that man’s name on the retention list, and it just makes me happy. There was a lot of talk about it in the last season about whether it was going to be his last season. He is moving on to 2024 to play another IPL season. With him, he is always full of surprises. Maybe he has got three more to go, who knows? But it is just great to see his name on there.”

Apart from MS Dhoni, fellow CSK zealot Ravindra Jadeja was also retained for IPL 2024 alongside Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad among several star attractions. Here is a look at a list of all 19 cricketers retained by CSK for the IPL 2024 season:

MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki and Maheesh Theekshana.

After announcing their releases and retentions on IPL 2024 retention day, the CSK franchise is now left with a purse of Rs.32.1 crore for the upcoming IPL 2024 auctions. The bidding event is slated to be held in Dubai on December 19 next month.