Are CSK fans ready for MS Dhoni retirement in IPL 2025?

FINISHED OR NOT? MS Dhoni has become the talk of the town during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season. A lot of questions are being raised by the fans and former cricketers regarding the capabilities of the legendary finisher after the Chennai Super Kings suffered two back-to-back losses at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Interestingly, in both these defeats, it the Chennai Super Kings batting line-up that has been under the pump for a collective failure. The entire criticism has come on the shoulder of 43-year-old MS Dhoni who was retained by the Chennai Super Kings as an uncapped player at a minimal price of INR 4 Crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. In this blog piece, we will discuss the facts and the reasons as to why some of the CSK fans and cricket experts are calling out for MS Dhoni retirement. 

MS Dhoni retirement around the corner amidst poor IPL 2025 start?

Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has managed to win all of the three tosses so far in this Indian Premier League 2025 season and he has opted to field on all of those occasions. During the first match against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians, MS Dhoni came to bat at the eighth spot when the game was almost over with the duo of skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra scoring amazing half-centuries each. In that game, the former CSK captain remained unbeaten without troubling the scores while facing a couple of dot deliveries. 

In the second run-chase against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Chennai Super Kings saw a collective batting failure right from the start as the likes of Rahul Tripathi, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran failed to even enter double digits. However, the biggest shocker in the CSK vs RCB IPL 2025 match was that MS Dhoni came out to bat as low at the No.9 position, just ahead of Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana. The match was seemingly done and dusted by then as the former Indian World Cup-winning skipper scored an unbeaten 30 runs off 16 balls. However, the biggest question still remains as to why Dhoni was sitting in the dressing room when the Chennai Super Kings' batting line-up was getting humiliated by the RCB bowlers on the field. 

During the third run-chase against the Rajasthan Royals on a tricky Guwahati pitch, the Chennai Super Kings suffered another huge batting collapse at the top as leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga bowled a sensational spell where he ended up picking as many as four wickets. Both the CSK fans and the entire cricket fraternity were eagerly waiting for the Vintage MS Dhoni to finally unleash his finishing abilities. With CSK requiring 54 runs off just 25 balls, Dhoni came onto bat at No.7. Alongside Ravindra Jadeja, the duo managed to score just 6 runs in the dramatic 18th over bowled by Maheesh Theekshana. 

The veteran CSK pair managed to pull back things by hitting as many as 19 runs in the 19th over bowled by speedster Tushar Deshpande that included a six and four by MS Dhoni. However, in an anti-climax ending, senior pacer Sandeep Sharma closed the curtains by removing Dhoni on the opening delivery of the final over. Eventually, Chennai Super Kings succumbed to their second consecutive loss of IPL 2025. 

“It’s a time thing. MS judges it. His body is… his knees aren’t what they used to be. And he’s moving okay, but there’s still an attrition aspect to it. He can’t bat ten overs running full stick. So he will gauge on the day what he can give us. If the game’s in the balance like today, he will go a little bit earlier, and he backs other players when other opportunities are up. So he’s balancing that,” said CSK head coach Stephen Fleming. 

“I said it last year (as well), he’s too valuable to us – leadership and wicket-keeping – to throw him in nine-ten overs. He has actually never done that. So, look, from around 13-14 overs, he’s looking to go depending on who’s in," he added. 

Interestingly, the Chennai Super Kings have not completed a single 175+ run-chase in the Indian Premier League since 2020. While talking about MS Dhoni records in IPL history, the veteran wicket-keeper batter has smashed a total of 2830 runs in the death overs at a remarkable strike-rate of close to 190. Also, he has a phenomenal strike-rate of close to 300 while batting in the 20th over of an IPL game. 16, 30, 0*, 25, 26, 0, 14, 5, 4 and 28 are the last 10 scores by MS Dhoni in the IPL. 

Many believed that after winning the IPL 2023 trophy with the Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad under his own captaincy, MS Dhoni will definitely be announcing his retirement from the game with the perfect ending. However, the legendary skipper mentioned that it would be really unfair for the CSK fans if he will announce his IPL retirement at that moment and instead, he will try to push his body. Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2024 following a heartening loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

It is very much evident that the loyal fans do want to witness more of MS Dhoni batting for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and this can only happen when the best finisher promotes himself in the batting order on regular basis. However, the world is seeing clearly that Dhoni has passed his prime a long time ago and it is very much dreadful to watch him bat like this. A player who finished matches quite easily like normal duties, is now feeling the pressure during the death overs even against some ordinary bowling attacks. This is also putting a negative effect on MS Dhoni's rich legacy and thus, time is running out for the best finisher that the cricketing world has ever witnessed.