Dhoni gives cheeky response on returning to IPL 2020

It is expected that the former India captain will bid adieu the game after the end of Cricket World Cup in England and Wales this summer.

Hyderabad: As Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by one run in a nail-biting final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 here at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium a lot of speculations were going on regarding MS Dhoni's retirement from the cash-rich T20 league. Everybody knows 37-year-old Dhoni's retirement is imminent.

It is expected that the former India captain will bid adieu the game after the end of Cricket World Cup in England and Wales this summer.

In a post-IPL 2019 final interview, commentator Simon Dull asked Dhoni whether he will play the next season. Dhoni, who finished the tournament as CSK highest run scorer with 416 runs in 15 matches, replied by saying "hopefully, yes."

Later Indian commentator Sanjay Manjrekar came up with the same question with a different tone, and he got a brilliant reply from the three-time IPL winning captain.

CSK captain MS Dhoni departs after scoring just 2 runs.

"It's too early to say right now (about next year's plans). Up next is the World Cup. That's the first priority. After that, we will chat about CSK... Hopefully yes, we'll see you next year," Dhoni quipped.

"As a team, we had a good season. But we need to go back and reflect on how we reached the finals. It's not one of those years where we played really great cricket to reach here," he added.

Talking about his team's batting in the final Dhoni put the blame on middle order which failed to perform.

"The middle order wasn't great, and today it was very funny as to how both these teams were only passing on the trophy from one team to the other," Dhoni said.

The 2011 World Cup winning captain of India also insisted that the upcoming showpiece event of ICC is his priority. He also said that he will re-assess whether CSK need to improve after the 2019 World Cup.

"We need to go into the World Cup and after that, we need to see the gaps that we can fill. Nothing against the bowlers, it's the batsmen who need to step up," Dhoni said.

Finishing the 12th edition of IPL as runners-up, CSK won prize money worth Rs 12.5 crore.