Former Indian bowler Zaheer Khan recently spoke about how Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni didn’t restrict his interests to cricket and always kept on building life outside cricket.
He keeps doing things outside of the sport: Zaheer Khan
While speaking to Jio Cinema, Zaheer Khan said, “When you're playing, switching off (from the game) is very important. Cricket is not everything. Every cricketer has to face this eventually. When you step away from the game, you may not have a lot of options. We've seen many athletes struggle after retiring because they gave everything to the game, and when they left it, they didn't know what to do.”
He further added how MS Dhoni understood this earlier, “In this sense, MS Dhoni understood a long time ago that he is passionate about cricket and it is an integral part of his life. But it couldn't be everything.”
“He keeps doing things outside of the sport. For example, his interest in bikes. He's always researching them.”
‘Would love to see him play for five more years’: Zaheer Khan
Former CSK player Suresh Raina also expressed how he wants MS Dhoni to continue playing for five more years as he said, “The biggest question is who'll be their next captain? Even if Dhoni stepped away as captain, he'll be in the dugout whether it's as a mental toughness coach or just for his presence. But the question is, who is he going to nurture? This is a pivotal year for CSK. Who does MS have his eyes on? Ruturaj Gaikwad is a good option. This year is a very important year for CSK, more than for MS Dhoni.”
“Because we'll see who he is going to select as his deputy and probably say: 'You handle this now, I've been looking after the team since 2008. You take care of the yellow, I will wear the jersey and sit in the dressing room',” Raina added.
“It's important now to see how he plans for the future. He's 42 years old. I would love to see him play for five more years, or at least two or three more years,” Raina concluded.
IPL 2024 is all set to get underway on March 22 with Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Chepauk Stadium.
