The road ahead for MS Dhoni: Dissecting Thala’s speech in the post match presentation of the IPL final 2023

Contrary to popular beliefs and assumptions through this season, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn’t retired from the Indian Premier League in spite of guiding his team to a sixth title in Ahmedabad.

Having retired from international cricket more than 33 months ago, Dhoni confirmed in his speech during the post-match presentation ceremony that he wants to take the “tough” road of returning for another season.

Apart from that, the former Indian captain was also respectful to his body and mentioned how a lot depends on the body. He played a major part of this season with a knee injury, had a surgery immediately after the tournament and will now recover.

Dhoni also mentioned how it will be a gift from his side to the fans for the love and affection that they have shown him and what he needs to do to acknowledge them. He has the next six- seven months to decide what the future holds.

Dhoni, who hardly touched the trophy, let teammates Ambati Rayudu, who announced his retirement earlier and Ravindra Jadeja, who hit the winning runs, take centre stage when it mattered the most.