Chennai Super Kings supporters were thrilled when captain MS Dhoni after collecting the IPL title informed Harsha Bhogle at the post-match ceremony on Friday that he hadn’t yet left behind a legacy. While it was viewed as an indication that fans could still get to witness the great on the cricket pitch, the same has now been verified by the CSK management.
A CSK spokesman stated the first retention card at the auction will be used to retain the captain of the ship. “There will be retention and that is a reality. The amount of retentions isn’t anything we are aware of yet. But honestly, that is secondary in MS’ case because the first card would be utilised for him. The ship needs its skipper and rest certain he will be back next year,” the source added.
Dhoni on his part played it as he usually did. Asked about the road ahead after winning his fourth title triumph in the IPL, Dhoni said: “Again I’ve stated it before, everything relies on BCCI. With two new clubs coming in, we have to determine what is beneficial for CSK. It’s not about me being there in top-three or four. It’s about making a solid core to guarantee the franchise doesn’t suffer. The core group, we have to have a serious look to determine who can contribute for the next 10 years.”
He even made it a point to first praise Kolkata Knight Riders for the outstanding showing this season before commenting about his own team’s display.
“Before I start talking about CSK, need to talk about KKR. Difficult to come back and do what they have, if any team deserves to win the IPL, it’s KKR. Huge thanks to the coaches, team, and support personnel. The break definitely benefited them. Coming to CSK, we swapped players. We had match winners coming game after game and playing extremely well,” remarked Dhoni.
“Every final is exceptional, if you look at data, we may claim we’re the most consistent team to lose the final too. I feel it’s crucial to come back strong, especially in the knockouts. Frankly no talks, we don’t talk a lot [meetings]. It’s more one-on-one, our practise sessions are meeting meetings. The instant you walk into a team room, it brings about another pressure,” he continued.
Dhoni didn’t forget the all-important CSK supporters and said: “I would love to thank the fans, wherever we’ve played, even when we were in South Africa, we’ve always had a decent amount of CSK fans. That is what you crave. Thanks to all of them, it seems like we’re playing in Chennai. Hopefully, we’ll be back in Chennai for the fans.”