IPL 2025: 'For Last, Whatever Few Years' - MS Dhoni Wants to Enjoy Playing Cricket Like a Child

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Chennai Super Kings veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni has expressed his desire to enjoy playing cricket like a child in the last whatever few years he is able to play the game a month ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Whenever the IPL season is around the corner and Dhoni takes the field, the topic of his retirement arises as he enters 40s, but the former Indian two-time World Cup-winning captain proves age is just a number and continues to perform at the highest level.

On Wednesday (February 19) during the launch of the app, 'DHONI' in Mumbai, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter provided a boost to the CSK faithful ahead of a new IPL season, which gets underway on March 22.

"As a cricketer, I always wanted to perform for the Indian team... Now I've retired since 2019, so it's been quite some time. What I've been doing in the meantime is, (that) I just want to enjoy cricket for the last whatever few years that I will be able to play," MS Dhoni said.

"I want to enjoy it, how I did as a child when I was in school. When I lived in a colony, 4 o'clock (in the afternoon) was sports time, so we'll go and play cricket more often than not. But if the weather doesn't permit, we used to play football. I want to play with the same kind of innocence... (but it is) easier said than done."

The former Indian captain, who has been part of several big tournaments on the international stage, also opened up on his principles from his playing days, highlighting how self-discipline was the first thing that mattered.

"You always need to figure out what is good for you. When I was playing, I made sure that cricket was a whole for me - nothing else mattered. What time I had to sleep? What time I had to get up? What impact it had on (my) cricket, that was the most important thing," Dhoni added.

"You know, all the friendships, the fun, all those can happen later. There is a right time for everything and I felt if you are able to recognise that, that's the best thing you can do (for yourself), For me as a cricketer, I always wanted to perform for the Indian cricket team because I've said that in the past also, that not everybody gets a chance to represent the country.

"For us as cricketers, whenever we went on to the big stage or whenever we were touring, there was a chance for us to win laurels for the country and so for me it was the country that always came first."

Dhoni, one of the most successful skippers of the country, captained Team India to triumphs in the ICC T20 World Cup (2007), ICC Men's ODI World Cup (2011), and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He also led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL titles as captain.

The 43-year-old Dhoni is expected to link up with the CSK for their IPL 2025 preparatory camp in the coming days as he looks to replicate batting form from the 2024 edition, where he scored 161 runs in 14 matches striking at 220.55