There is a lot of speculation regarding MS Dhoni’s future once again as he is anticipated to retire at the end of IPL 2024 season but Chennai Super Kings’ batting coach Michael Hussey has recently come out and hinted that the 5-time IPL winning captain can continue playing in the future. 

As Chennai Super Kings are preparing for their final league game of the tournament with IPL qualification on the line, Michael Hussey came on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show and dropped some major update on MS Dhoni’s plans for retirement.

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Michael Hussey on MS Dhoni’s future

While everyone expects MS Dhoni to call it quits at the end of IPL 2024, CSK’s Michael Hussey said that MS Dhoni is still playing great and will continue to play for a few more years. He further confirmed that MS Dhoni likes to build it up and announce to stir up drama. 

"I hope he keeps going for another couple of years. But we will just have to wait and see. He is the only one who will make that call. And, he likes to sort of build the drama a little bit as well. So, I wouldn't expect a decision anytime soon," said Michael Hussey on ESPN. 

Michael Hussey further confirmed that MS Dhoni is batting really well this IPL  and has kept himself in great touch for the season. 

"We are hoping he does keep going. He is still batting so well. He does prepare well - he gets into the camp very early and hits a lot of balls. He has been in good touch all season really," said Michael Hussey. 

MS Dhoni played last season of the IPL after having a knee surgery and this year it was reported in the past that the former CSK skipper might be playing with a muscle tear. While, the former Australian batter did not confirm whether MS Dhoni is playing with an injury or not he did say that MSD is managing his fitness. 

"I guess we just got to try to manage him from the body side of things. He had a knee surgery after the last season. So, he has been managing that from the initial stage of the tournament,” said Michael Hussey. 

Despite the injury Michael Hussey believes that there is no one better than MS Dhoni to come in and smash the ball out of the park towards the end.  

"That [knee surgery] is why we have had to manage him a little bit, and he only comes in at the back end. But, there has been no one better in being able to come in and hit the ball so cleanly from ball one than MS. He has been phenomenal," 

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Michael Hussey reveals how MS Dhoni broke the news of stepping down from captaincy

MS Dhoni decided to hand over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the IPL and stunned the cricketing fraternity. 

"MS sort of announced that he was not going to be attending the pre-tournament captains' meeting. And we're like, 'Oh, no. What's going on?'. He said Ruturaj was going to be captain from then on.”, said Hussey. 

While Hussey did confirm that it was a shock when MS Dhoni decided to step away from captaincy but has lauded IPL’s joint most successful captain for handling the transition as smoothly as possible. 

“So, it was a little bit of a shock to start with, but it has been managed really well. We have sort of known for a little while that he was the right man to take over the job when MS decided to step aside. He wanted to still be here while the new captain took over, to try to help him along the way and sort of mentor him a little bit," said Hussey.

Chennai Super Kings are prepping for a virtual knockout in their last league game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru as the winner of the encounter is expected to go through to the IPL Playoffs. 

(With PTI Inputs)