MS Dhoni's childhood friend says IPL 2024 unlikely to be CSK captain's final season

MS Dhoni was widely expected to call time on his playing career after leading Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title last year as it would've been a fairytale conclusion to what has been a legendary career.

Not only is 'Thala' set to represent the 'Yellow Army' for another season this year, having been retained by the franchise ahead of the player auction, a close friend of his believes Dhoni might just lead the team for a couple of more seasons thanks to his fitness levels.

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"I do not think this will be his (Dhoni’s) last season. He is still fit. I think he will play one or two more seasons. He will definitely play one more season. The reason is he is fit," Paramjit Singh, Dhoni's childhood friend who owns a sports goods shop in the former India captain's hometown of Ranchi, was quoted as saying by OneIndia.

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Paramjit owns the Prime Sports Goods Shop in Ranchi's Main Road that has become something of a tourist attraction thanks to the owner's proximity to the 2011 World Cup-winning captain. Dhoni was even spotted with a 'Prime Sports' sticker on his bat during a practice session in a video that has since gone viral.

'Captain Cool', who led India to triumph in three different ICC events, had announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August, 2020, more than a year after the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final against New Zealand which was his last appearance for Team India. Since then, he's narrowed down his cricketing commitments to representing CSK for a little over two months in the world's biggest and richest T20 league.

CSK are set to face the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening fixture of IPL 2024 at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium on 22 March.