Will Dhoni play IPL 2023: Is CSK out of IPL 2022?

Will Dhoni play IPL 2023: The former captain of Chennai Super Kings couldn’t register another mind-blowing finish tonight.

Former Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a perfect opportunity of registering yet another quintessential finish by sealing a thrilling chase but it wasn’t to be as the defending champions needed as many as 27 runs in one over to win the match.

Coming in to bat at No. 7 in the 18th over, Dhoni entered the Wankhede Stadium with his team requiring 35 runs off 13 balls. Not looking in the kind of touch he put on display against Mumbai Indians, Dhoni scored 12 (8) with the help of a four and six each.

Despite hitting a last-over six, Dhoni couldn’t seal the chase as a mis-hit off Rishi Dhawan resulted in him getting caught by Jonny Bairstow at deep mid-wicket.

Frankly speaking, it is quite unfair to expect the 40-year old player do the heavy lifting towards the end of run chases in each match. Barring Ambati Rayudu, neither of Chennai’s batters managed to play an impact-generating innings tonight.

Batting at No. 5 with his team needing more than 11 runs per over to win the match, Rayudu scored a stroke-filled 78 (39) at a strike rate of 200. Second-highest run-scorer for Super Kings this season, Rayudu’s 246 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 35.14 and 129.47 respectively.

With CSK already losing six league matches, they will now have to win each of their remaining six matches in order to qualify for the playoffs. While they could also qualify with seven wins (five wins and one loss in remaining matches), their NRR (Net Run Rate) will come into contention in that scenario.

Will Dhoni play IPL 2023?

Dhoni, on the other hand, has played well this season with his 132 runs in seven innings coming at the average and strike rate of 44 and 133.33 respectively.

With Chennai on the brink of elimination, fans are already curious to know if Dhoni will return for IPL 2023 or not. It is worth mentioning that the same is too early to answer at this point in time.

Being asked about his last IPL season after winning IPL 2021, Dhoni had hinted at playing in front of their fans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium before bidding adieu to the biggest T20 tournament across the globe. With COVID-19 not allowing a single IPL 2022 match in Chennai, it will be interesting to see if Dhoni waits for another season or not.