MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers are two of the greatest players who played the sport. On fied, they were greatest of rivals but off it, they had massive respect for each other and were good friends. Both share mutual respect for each other. They are also IPL legends who played many a great knocks for their respective franchises. While de Villers has already brought curtains on his IPL and international career, Dhoni continues to ply his trade in the T20 league. Speaking over his YouTube channel on Wednesday, de Villiers predicted the future of Dhoni in IPL at the end of the season.
De Villiers compared Dhoni with a diesel engine which never ends. The former Proteas batter said that no one can guess what move Dhoni is going to make next and the retirement decision is one such move that no one knows when it is coming.
“They played some incredible cricket last year. There were a lot of rumours about MS Dhoni finishing up last year, that was not the case, ladies and gentlemen. He would be back again. Will this be his final season? No one knows. He just seems to be this diesel engine that never ends. He keeps running. What an incredible player, what an incredible captain,” de Villiers said in a video on his YouTube channel.
De Villiers, who played most of his cricket at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), did not stop himself from praising CSK, the franchise and the team. He said that they have all the ingredients to be the best team in the competition, including a captain like Dhoni and a calm head in form of Stephen Fleming.
I sang my favourite Hindi song, chatted about what inspired me and of course, discussed my takes on the upcoming #IPL2024 which is just 9 days away and promises excitement!
__It’s all on this special episode of the week’s #360Show ____
__: https://t.co/T0W8csi47K_ pic.twitter.com/24pITq3RuS
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) March 13, 2024
“I believe it’s through their presence, it’s through the leadership of MSD, a calm coach in Stephen Fleming, senior players in Ravi[ndra] Jadeja and others who have really set this incredible culture alive. They are a very intimidating team to play against. They are never easy to beat,” he added.
Dhoni is 42 years old and many are assuming that this could be his last IPL. He may want to finish off after making CSK the most succesful franchise in the league. CSK and Mumbai Indians have both won 5 IPL titles. No other team is near them, in terms of title wins and Dhoni would want to sign off after winning the record sixth title. But with Dhoni, as de Villiers pointed out, you don’t know what’s coming.
