The most awaited question of the IPL season, regarding Mahendra Singh Dhoni's future in the competition, was answered, although not entirely in the affirmative. The soon-to-be 42-year-old CSK captain acknowledged that it was time to leave, but he thought he could try to give something back to his devoted supporters by sticking around for another year.
"The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire," Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. "But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift from me, to play one more season. The way they've shown their love and emotion, it's something I need to do for them."
"It started over here in Ahmedabad and the full house was chanting my name. It was my same thing in Chennai, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can," Dhoni added.