MS Dhoni, who is the most capped player in Indian Premier League history, is all set to play for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025. The former India and CSK captain was retained for Rs 4 crore by the Chennai-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction last year. Despite being more than 43 years old, Dhoni is still a force to reckon with in the world’s richest franchise cricket league. In the 2024 edition of the IPL, he played all 14 matches for the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side and, with the help of 13 sixes, scored 161 runs. The legendary wicketkeeper-batter would like to come up with many big performances in the IPL this year as well, and ahead of the start of IPL 2025, Dhoni’s former India teammates Harbhajan Singh and Aakash Chopra, who have now donned the hat of experts and commentators, while speaking on the ESPNCricinfo show, have explained the reason why Dhoni is still a force to reckon with. According to Harbhajan, “Last year he was brilliant. I met him recently at one of our friend’s wedding function. He looked very fit and solid. I asked him, Isn’t it difficult, what you’re doing? He said, ‘It is hard, but this is the only thing I like doing. I enjoy it. When it’s 4 or 5, I want to go and play. And I want to do it.’ It’s hard without playing any cricket. But he’s showing how it’s done. You know, he must be doing something better than the others. You know, still surviving – not surviving, actually – still dominating.” “Last season, actually, he dominated all the bowlers, international bowlers, and domestic top-class bowlers. So this practice that he does for 2-3 months, he must be facing so many balls.” “He’s the first one to arrive. The more balls you play, the more you get that timing, and the more you get that flow. He keeps on batting. 2-2, 3-3 hours he bats in Chennai. And that’s what matters, you know. He’s the first one to come to the ground, the last one to go. At this age, that’s what the difference is,” Harbhajan added. Chopra, who has also observed Dhoni from very close quarters in the last so many years, said that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter is very honest with himself and is aware of what he can do. “I also feel that he’s very honest with himself. And that honesty matters a lot. And why does that matter? See, all of us kept on shouting that he can’t come up to bat if he’s batting so well. But in his head, he was convinced that I cannot bat for 40 balls. If he comes to bat after 12 overs, I can’t do it. You may think that I’m able to hit, but the fact of the matter is that I know I won’t be able to. And that’s, I think, point one. So it was very clear what I can do. Sometimes it’s equally important to know what I can’t do. So that allows you that clarity. He has that clarity,” Chopra said.