Hussey delivers breathtaking verdict on MS Dhoni's IPL future after 2023 season: 'He's trying the best he can…'

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will take the field in the side's final league game of the 2023 season on Saturday afternoon, when CSK take on the Delhi Capitals. There have been speculations over Dhoni's future in the IPL; while the wicketkeeper-batter had dropped multiple hints that this could be his last appearance in the league, he left fans wondering over his future when he denied the ‘last season’ claim made by Danny Morrison during toss in the game against Lucknow Super Giants.

With no confirmation from the wicketkeeper-batter, the fans continue to speculate on his future. But CSK's batting coach Mike Hussey has made a massive statement on Dhoni's IPL career going ahead, stating that the 41-year-old is fit enough to play in the league for the “next five years.”

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"He's still batting very well, is still motivated to coming into training and working on his game and hitting the ball well. We've seen he comes late in the innings and finishes things well.

“He's still got the six-hitting ability, while he's enjoying it and is contributing to the team then there is no reason why he can't keep going for maybe another five years,” Hussey told reporters ahead of the game against DC, as quoted by news agency PTI.

The talismanic keeper-batter has been nursing a knee injury throughout this IPL but despite that, Dhoni has kept wickets in all the games while playing useful cameos towards the end of the innings batting as low as number 8.

"I think it's pretty clear that he likes to come in the last few overs, that's his plan," Hussey said on Dhoni's batting position; he also further addressed hs knee concerns.

"It's been well documented that his knee has not been a 100 per cent and he's trying to get through the matches as best as he can throughout the tournament. So I think, he doesn't want to come in the 10th, 11th or 12th over and have to run those quick doubles all the time, that's going to put pressure on the knee.

“He's trying to delay coming in as long as possible and having that impact late in the innings. He shows a lot of backing and faith in the likes of (Shivam) Dube, (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Ajinkya) Rahane and (Ambati) Rayudu to do the job before he comes in,” Hussey further said.