Former cricketer Matthew Hayden thinks the Indian Premier League (IPL) season of 2023 will be memorable due to the last IPL of legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni. With the IPL returning to a home-and-away format in 2023, the Chennai Super Kings will have the opportunity to host home games at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in what may be MS Dhoni’s final season playing in the IPL.
“2023—here we go once more! Following COVID, the IPL is currently taking place in all venues in India. Just the number of fans, or the Yellow Army, that will swarm the Chepauk Stadium will be astonishing. Also, they will be the same team that will be very challenging to defeat at home. “They have the best home record in the IPL at Chepauk, without a doubt. That location is a stronghold. And M.S. Dhoni will serve as their captain, possibly for the final time. That will be one of those occasions that no one will ever forget.
“He has specifically stayed on in the IPL to say goodbye to his fans at Chepauk, and they are going to turn out like you just couldn’t think,” Hayden was cited as saying by Star Sports, the official television broadcast of the IPL 2023. Hayden also shared his thoughts on how Chennai, the four-time IPL champions, would be thinking about giving Dhoni a fitting send-off before the 16th edition of the IPL kicks off on March 31.
“See CSK, they’re known for coming up with creative and original ways to do things. If you exclude their two-year absence from the IPL, it was unfortunate, and when they returned the next year to win the IPL, it was a complete shock. And they are able to! Even if the team has the fantastic reputation of placing complete trust in a select few players and keeping the majority of players, MS Dhoni has a way of revitalizing, rebuilding, and giving it an entirely fresh appearance and feel.
“So for MS Dhoni, I think this year in particular, it’s going to be a year celebrated like no other. It’s the finish, I believe, of the legacy of MS Dhoni, and he will want to go out in style with his fans, who’d want him to go out in style as well.”
Also read: