‘Pivotal year for CSK and Dhoni'

CSK’s MS Dhoni during a training session at Chennai yesterday. Pic/CSK

At 42, as two-time World Cup-winning former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni gears up to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming Indian Premier League, the big question is who will take his place in the future. Interestingly though Dhoni's former India and CSK teammate Suresh Raina wants him to continue playing in the IPL for another five years.

"It's important now to see how Dhoni plans for the future. He's 42 years old. I would love to see him play for five more years, or at least two or three more years, but the biggest question is who'll be CSK's next captain? Even if Dhoni stepped away as captain, he'll be in the dugout whether it's as a mental toughness coach or just for his presence. But the question is who is he going to nurture? This is a pivotal year for CSK," Raina told JioCinema.

"Who does MS have his eyes on? Ruturaj Gaikwad is a good option. This year is a very important year for CSK, more than for Dhoni, because we'll see who he is going to select as his deputy and probably say: ‘You handle this now, I've been looking after the team since 2008. You take care of the yellow, I will wear the jersey and sit in the dressing room'," he added.

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Besides his World Cup triumphs and India's march to the World No. 1 position in Tests, Dhoni has led CSK to a joint-record five IPL titles. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan insists that cricket remains integral but "not everything" for Dhoni, who has a penchant for catching the world off-guard and an eagerness to explore various avenues. The charismatic former India skipper quit international cricket four years ago.

Zaheer said, "When you're playing, switching off [from the game] is very important. Cricket is not everything. Every cricketer has to face this eventually. When you step away from the game, you may not have a lot of options. We've seen many athletes struggle after retiring because they gave everything to the game, and when they left it, they didn't know what to do. In this sense, MS Dhoni understood a long time ago that he is passionate about cricket and it is an integral part of his life, but it couldn't be everything. He keeps doing things outside of the sport. For example, his interest in bikes. He's always researching them," added Zaheer. The IPL starts on Friday with reigning champions CSK taking Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opener.