Watch: MS Dhoni celebrates Republic Day by hoisting the Indian Flag, video goes viral

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni celebrated the 75th Republic Day by hoisting the Indian national flag with all respect and passion. The CSK skipper will be back to playing cricket in IPL 2024. This might well be his last IPL season. 

MS Dhoni’s wife Sakshi shared a post on Instagram of Dhoni standing in front of the national flag with the music of “Saare Jahan se Accha” running in the background. 

Thala Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings to their fifth IPL title in 2023. The dramatic final ended with Ravindra Jadeja hitting the winning runs in a tense final. The 42-year-old will again lead the CSK bunch possibly for their sixth IPL title. 

 

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A post shared by Sakshi Singh (@sakshisingh_r)

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Dhoni who played the entire IPL 2023 with knee problems underwent surgery on his left knee. He underwent the surgery in Mumbai after the end of IPL 2023. He has had enough time to get fit ahead of the next IPL season. 

MS Dhoni To Play IPL 2024

Dhoni in an emotional speech after the IPL 2023 final promised to come back and play one more season for the Indian fans and the fans of CSK. He was retained by CSK ahead of the IPL 2024 auction which was a sign that he will indeed return for one more season. 

“If you see, this is the best time to announce my retirement. But with 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 nine months and come back and play at least one more season of the 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. The way they’ve shown their love and affection, I think that’s something I need to do for them,” he had said when he was asked about his future in the league during the final presentation ceremony last season.

CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan also confirmed that Dhoni will come back to play IPL 2024. Viswanathan said that Dhoni does not go back on his word and he is fit following the surgery and will be leading the five-time champions once again.

“If our leader has given a word, he has never gone back. He already told what he was planning to do in that interview. I am sure that knowing MS, he will always do what he has committed to do. He is quite fit. Thalaivan is thalaivan (our leader is our leader),” said Viswanathan in a video posted by CSK.

CSK released as many as eight players ahead of the IPL 2024 auction including England captain Ben Stokes. Among the players retained were Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana. CSK bought six players in the auction including the likes of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell. 

CSK IPL 2024 Complete Squad 

MS Dhoni (c), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly. 

CSK players bought at IPL 2024 auction: 

Rachin Ravindra (Rs. 1.8 crore), Shardul Thakur (Rs. 4 crore), Daryl Mitchell (Rs. 14 crore), Sameer Rizvi (Rs. 8.40 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs. 2 crore), Avanish Rao Aravelly (Rs. 20 lakh).

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