'Wonderful thing' – Sunil Gavaskar welcomes MS Dhoni’s decision to show up in IPL 2023

CSK skipper MS Dhoni is not going anywhere, not until the next season at least. The four-time IPL-winning captain surprised everyone by stepping down as captain before the IPL 2022 started. The fans feared for the worst as they speculated that this might be their mercurial leader’s goodbye season. But, when Ravindra Jadeja renounced his captaincy duties, Dhoni once again took charge of his beloved Yellow Army.

Chennai’s forgetful season came to an end on Friday after suffering a 5-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals. Before the game, when asked about his future at the toss, the former Indian skipper admitted that he will be back next season to don the yellow jersey.

I will be working hard to come back strong next year: MS Dhoni

“Definitely, it’s a simple reason. It will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you” Dhoni said at the toss. “Mumbai is one place where as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But, you know, it won’t be nice to the CSK fans. And, hopefully, next year, it will be an opportunity where the team will be traveling. So, it will be like a thank you to all the different places playing games at different venues.”

“Whether it will be my last year or not, that’s a big question because we can’t predict something that’s two years down the line, but definitely, I will be working hard to come back strong next year,” Dhoni said.

MS Dhoni will get an opportunity to thank the whole country: Sunil Gavaskar

The CSK skipper has recorded the most wins as a captain in IPL history and his haul of four IPL trophies is only bested by Rohit Sharma’s five. The former Indian skipper has also won all the major ICC events with the Indian team and established them as the No.1 Test side during his tenure. Former Indian Cricketer and legendary commentator Sunil Gavaskar welcomed MSD’s decision.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing. As he explained, he wants to say thank you to all those who have supported his team and him, not necessarily CSK, he has been the captain of India, and he has taken India to the heights unseen before,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“Next year, hopefully, it will be a kind of home and away situation. There are ten teams, so he will be able to say goodbye to 10 venues. Sometimes, we actually see some franchises want to maybe take another venue as their home ground. Ranchi could be home ground. These things can happen, which means he gets the opportunity to say thank you to pretty much the whole of India.”