MS Dhoni confirms he'll play for CSK in IPL 2023

MS Dhoni has confirmed he will play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

CSK, who have won the IPL title four times, have already been eliminated from the ongoing tournament.

Ahead of CSK's final league game of IPL 2022 on Friday, Ian Bishop on Star Sports asked Dhoni about his CSK future in the IPL. To which, the CSK skipper replied," Definitely [I will play IPL 2023]. It's a simple reason: it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you [to the fans]. Mumbai is one place where, as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But it wouldn't be nice to the CSK fans."

Dhoni had stepped down as CSK's captain before the start of IPL 2022. However, after Ravindra Jadeja could not handle the pressure of being CSK's captain and had managed just two wins from the first eight games. As a result, Jadeja quit CSK's captaincy, handing the role back to Dhoni.

In the underway campaign, to avoid travelling much between the cities, all the group matches are being played only in stadiums across Maharashtra with the playoffs scheduled to take place in Kolkata and Ahmedabad. However, Dhoni believes IPL will go back to playing in multiple cities next season.

"And also, hopefully, next year there will be an opportunity where the teams will be travelling so it will be a like thank you to all the different places where we will be playing games at different venues. Whether it will be my last year or not that's a big question, because you know we can't really predict about something two years down the line. But definitely,t I'll be working hard to come back strong next year," added Dhoni further.

At toss on Friday, when Danny Morrison asked Dhoni whether he would be seen in action in 2023, Dhoni gave a cryptic answer: "You'll definitely see me in the yellow jersey - whether it's this yellow jersey or some other yellow jersey you will have to wait and watch."

Dhoni, who has played for two franchises in the IPL (CSK and Rising Pune Supergiants), has played 234 games and is nearing 5,000 runs in the tournament.