After winning the finals of the Indian Premier League season 2023, the captain of Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, revealed that he had cried in his side’s tournament opener against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
MS Dhoni is a man of very few expressions but a lot of words, at least in his post-match interactions. Ever since he decided not to attend press conferences before or after a match, the only time Dhoni can be heard talking seriously about cricket is either at the toss or after the match to the broadcasters. No one is complaining, though, as the CSK captain has been speaking his heart out every time he has had the microphone in his hand in IPL 2023. He, however, reserved the best for the final.
After winning the IPL season 2023 against Gujarat Titans in the final, Dhoni confirmed that it’s not the end of his playing career yet, as he will give himself 6-7 months and then decide on his future as the captain of CSK. He also said that this was a small return gift from his side to the fans for the love and appreciation he has received at every venue he has played this year.
He also revealed that he cried before the opener of CSK’s tournament against GT at the same venue. On March 31, 2023, he started off IPL 2023 by playing against GT in Ahmedabad.
When Harsha Bhogle asked him about being emotional, Dhoni said, “You do get emotional for the simple fact that it is the last part of my career. It started over here, and when I was playing in the first game, I just walked around, and the full house was chanting my name. My eyes got filled with water, and I just stood there in the dugout for a while. I took my time, and then I realised I wanted to enjoy it. The same thing happened in Chennai. It was my last game there, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can.”
Dhoni also talked about the brand of cricket that CSK plays under him, saying, “The kind of cricket I play, they feel they can play that cricket. There’s nothing orthodox about it, and I like to keep it simple. I think every trophy or bilateral series you win has its own challenges. When it comes to the crunch, you need to have your individuals ready. The amount of pressure every individual can deal with is different. We tried to do that.”
