CSK captain Dhoni has had successful knee surgery, may play next IPL

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) czar and former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday went under the knife in a Mumbai hospital. The surgery on his left knee was successfully completed. Dhoni had played the entire season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 with heavy strapping on his left knee. The successful surgery rekindled the hopes that Dhoni will go Mahi way, playing the 17th edition of the IPL 2024.  

“Yes, Dhoni has had a successful knee surgery at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai on Thursday. I am yet to get all the details about the nature of surgery and other things,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan confirmed to PTI. Post surgery, he is doing fine,added the CSK CEO. 

Dhoni is reported to have been discharged from the hospital after a keyhole surgery was carried out for “arthroscopic repair”: a medical procedure that a surgeon uses to visualize and treat problems inside a joint. 

Road to recovery 

As per the report, Dhoni has gone back to Ranchi for his extensive rehabilitation at home. A source close to the CSK management quoted by PTI as saying on conditions of anonymity, Dhoni could have enough time to recuperate fully and is expected to get fit to play for the next IPL.

The CSK skipper, who is fondly known as ‘Thala’, led Chennai Super Kings to their fifth IPL title. After the IPL final match played on Monday, Dhoni flew down to Mumbai from Ahmedabad to consult renowned sports orthopedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, who had performed surgeries on a number of top Indian cricketers, including Rishabh Pant and is also on the BCCI medical panel.

Why did the CSK czar undergo surgery?

During the entire IPL season, the CSK captain came to bat as low as number 8th position and he did not appear in his element while running between the wickets. MS Dhoni had been squaring off with the knee issue for the last several months, even before the IPL started. The knee pain probably shot up owing to hard training for the IPL 2023. Despite his knee injury, Thala triumphed the trophy for the IPL 2023, winning the champions title for the fifth time by defeating Gujarat Titans. He decided to go for the knee surgery just two days after the CSK team won IPL 2023.     

Dhoni’s gift for fans: ‘To play one more season’

After the IPL final, Dhoni had said: “If you circumstantially see, it’s the best time to announce retirement. The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire. 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 for them to play one more season,” reported PTI.

Dhoni added that he needs to do something for the love and emotions being showered on him, saying it would be good to come back and play whatever he can for his fans. 

Captain cool blowing hot record

Dhoni has become the first player to play 250 matches in the world’s biggest cricket league IPL. The CSK vs GT at Ahmedabad was Dhoni’s eleventh final as a player and 10th match as skipper.

So far, he has scored 5,082 runs at an average of 39.09 with a strike rate of 135.96 in 217 innings. His best score is 84* and he has scored 24 half-centuries. The CSK captain is the seventh-highest run scorer in the league’s history.