MS Dhoni's IPL future addressed after being denied potential Chepuak farewell: 'He knows what he's going to do'

Speculations were there over the last few seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It grew more intense with each passing day in the ongoing 2024 tournament and on Saturday, after Chennai Super Kings' heartbreaking exit from the season, it reached its peak. Did MS Dhoni play his final IPL game at the Chinnaswamy? While the CSK legend is yet to make it official, bowling coach Eric Simons addressed the rumours after the team lost by 27 runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Speaking to the media after the match that saw Chennai finish fifth in the points table with seven wins and as many losses, Simons labelled that the speculations were "crazy" before indicating that he reckons Dhoni would return to the franchise and to the league in 2025.

“Anybody who wants to speculate about his future, it’s going to be crazy. MS knows what he is going to do. I have seen him hit the ball from the pre-tournament camps to now as well I have seen him hit it for many years. So, he is playing extremely well and he’ll make a decision. But he is a fantastic guy to be around. He’s an incredible cricketer and individual in terms of his understanding of cricket and life,” Simons said.

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The rumours around Dhoni playing his last IPL match at the Chinnaswamy were ignited after the former captain was left shattered in the CSK dugout while watching his side go down in the chase of 219. He later did not shake hands with the RCB players and rather congratulated the support staff members before leaving the ground.

Simons also praised the 42-year-old for taking the game deep with his fiery cameo against RCB which included a monstrous 110-metre six.

“There are so many memories of MS Dhoni. The knocks that he plays get you out of trouble. With your backs to the wall when he’s at the wicket, you just don’t stop believing. He can win it for you and one of the things he brings to the group is incredible self-belief.

“But he has a very simple structure and understanding of the game and that’s one of the things that lot of cricketers strive for. He does, and he helps guys with that sort of information and knowledge. It’s not to play like MS but understand your game, and that’s where MS is tremendous,” Simons added.