'Knees Me Jo Dard Hai…’: MS Dhoni’s Classic Response To Fan's IPL 2026 Request

The former Indian star wicketkeeper batter MS Dhoni is not just a player; he is an emotion of all the cricket fans whom we never want to see retire. After his retirement from international cricket, fans wait for an over to see a glimpse of him in the Indian Premier League (IPL). But now it is also a question whether he will be playing the next edition of IPL or not. The next edition is still seven months away, but the questions still scare every CSK and MSD fan. He has been batting with knee pain after every season, but still he keeps CSK, the five-time champion team, as his priority.

In IPL 2025, CSK finished at the bottom of the points table; it was something that never happened in the IPL history under his captaincy. Hence, it is to be seen whether Dhoni will be coming back for more seasons as a player for Chennai or not.

Recently, he attended an event where he spoke about his future plans, stating that there's still a lot of time to decide whether he wants to play the IPL 2026 edition or not.

He said,

"I don't know whether I'll play or not. I have time to decide. I have some time until December, so I'll take another couple of months, and then finally, I can make my decision."

Then a fan jumped and said, "You have to play, sir."

To this, Dhoni replied, saying,

"Aree, ghutno me jo dard hota hai uska take care kaun karega (The pain I have in my knees, who will take care of that)?"

After the IPL 2023 final, when CSK won by beating Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans, Dhoni underwent knee surgery in Mumbai. In that whole season, he was seen struggling with a knee injury but still managed to give the best to his team.

It is to be noted that for the last two seasons, he has been batting lower in the batting order for the obvious reasons.

MS DHONI STEPS IN AS CSK CAPTAIN

In the IPL 2025, MS Dhoni steps in as captain of the franchise after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament due to a fracture in his elbow. However, he played the role of stand-in captain in the tournament.

It is being reported that both MS Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been meeting CSK officials in Chennai to discuss the strategy of IPL 2026. The reports are also coming that Ravichandran Ashwin has informed the franchise to part ways and find a new team.