The question of whether Dhoni will continue to play IPL cricket - the only tournament he plays - or not has been doing the rounds the last few seasons. After undergoing knee surgery in 2023, he handed over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of IPL 2024 and played a limited role with the bat, coming in late in the innings as a boundary-hitter. More recently, at an event, Dhoni said he and CSK would wait for the player retention rules to be finalised before taking a decision on his future as a player.