Legendary cricketer and former Indian captain MS Dhoni was seen at Chennai Airport getting ready to depart for Delhi, marking his comeback for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The veteran of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will return to the team in hopes of winning his sixth IPL championship.

There has been a lot of conjecture over the last few seasons about Dhoni’s potential retirement after this IPL. Fans and analysts have been debating whether he would say goodbye to the league, where he has won five titles as captain, ever since he declared his international retirement in 2020. His mysterious Morse code message upon his recent arrival in Chennai fueled speculation that the 2025 Indian Premier League may be his last season.

The dates of the forthcoming 18th IPL tournament are set for March 22–May 25, 2025. Ten teams will be split into two groups for the competition, and each group will play 14 group-stage matches. The first and last games will be held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, and the top four clubs will go to the playoffs.

CSK paid Rs 4 crore to keep Dhoni as an uncapped player before the 2025 season. Prior to last year’s auction, the IPL had instituted a new regulation that permitted teams to keep players in the uncapped group if they hadn’t participated in international cricket for five years.

Dhoni has only played in the IPL since he retired from international cricket in 2020. He remained undefeated eight times in the 2024 season, scoring 161 runs at a strike rate of 220 and an average of 53.66 after 11 innings, playing the part of a finisher for the five-time winners.

With 5.243 runs in 264 games and 229 innings at an average of 39.12, a strike rate of 137.53, and 24 fifties, Dhoni is the sixth-highest run scorer in IPL history. His highest rating is 84*. From 2016 to 2017, he played for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPG) in addition to CSK.