Dhoni Says That Fans Will See Him In Yellow But Maybe Not As A Player

Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni on Thursday said that fans will see him in 'yellow in IPL 2022, but he doesn't know if he will be part of the franchise as a player or in some other role.

Dhoni, who has been CSK's captain since the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, highlighted that there is a 'lot of uncertainty' because of the two new teams coming in and the mega auction, next year.

"Well, you can see me in yellow next year. But whether I will be playing for CSK? There are a lot of uncertainties around it for a simple reason that we have two new teams coming up. We don't know the retention policy. We don't know how many foreigners, Indian players we can retain, the money cap that every player will be cutting from the kitty," said 40-year-old at the toss ahead of CSK's match against Punjab Kings in Dubai.

"So there are a lot of uncertainties. Unless the rules are in place you can't really decide that. So we will wait for it to happen and hopefully it will be good for everyone," he added.

The former India captain also mentioned that it has been difficult to maintain fitness this season due to back to back matches in the UAE leg of the 2021 IPL.

"It's tough to maintain fitness. Once the IPL was postponed, it meant there will be back-to-back games (whenever the tournament resumes). We had that sort of a stretch but, looks good, no concern with fitness," said Dhoni.

Dhoni, who has led CSK to three IPL titles, earlier indicated that he will be playing his farewell game in Chennai.

The 40-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman in an event celebrating 75 years of India Cements, earlier had said that he hopes to play his last IPL match in Chennai.

"When it comes to farewell, you can still come and see me play for CSK and that can be my farewell game. So, you will still get that opportunity to bid me farewell. Hopefully, we will come to Chennai and play my last game over there and we can meet the fans there," Dhoni said while interacting with fans during the virtual event on Tuesday.