MS Dhoni thanking fans after CSK won IPL 2023 final© BCCI/Sportzpics
A true legend of the game, MS Dhoni had fans following him no matter which venue he played at during the Indian Premier League (IPL). After the final on Sunday was washed out, some fans even went to the extreme of sleeping at the railway station in order to be available for the rescheduled final on Monday. As Chennai Super Kings won the title by defeating Gujarat Titans in the decider, Dhoni decided to hold on the retirement decision, as a gift for his fans. After the game, he even went on a solo walk to thank people for their support.
In a video that has surfaced on social media, Dhoni could be seen going for a walk at the Narendra Modi Stadium, waving to fans who stayed back till the very end. Here’s the video:
MS Dhoni went alone & thanked all the fans in the stadium.
He is winning hearts as always. pic.twitter.com/1nmmfHmM9E
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 30, 2023
After the game, Dhoni admitted that it would’ve been easier for him to retire but he wants to work hard and try to play for another season.
“Looking for an answer? Circumstantially if you see, this is the best time to announce my retirement. But the amount of love and affection I have been shown wherever I have been this year, the easy thing would be for me to say “Thank you very much”, but the tough thing for me is to work hard for another 9 months and come back and play at least 1 more season of IPL. A lot depends on the body, I have 6-7 months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side, it’s not easy for me but that’s a gift,” he said.
Hailing fans for their support, Dhoni said that he needed to try and stay for another season for them. “The way they’ve shown their love and affection, I think that’s something I need to do for them. You do get emotional simply because it’s the last part of my career, it started over here and the first game when I walked down everyone was chanting my name. My eyes were full of water and I just stood there in the dugout for a while. I realised I want to enjoy this. It was the same thing in Chennai, it was my last game over there but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can. They love me for what I am,” the ‘Thala’ said in an emotional speech.
Topics mentioned in this article