IPL 2025 to be Dhoni’s last? Code on CSK legend’s T-shirt sparks retirement speculations

It’s a question that has been asked before the start of almost every IPL season for a few years now. It’s a question that seems to have attained mythical proportions now, thanks to the die-hard ‘Thala’ fans.

‘Is this going to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s final IPL?’

And, it seems that the former India skipper and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) icon is in no mood to let it abate. Not only has he hardly ever given a direct reply to questions of his retirement from the IPL – the only form of cricket he plays now – but has now teased his fans in his own inimitable way.

Ahead of the IPL 2025 set to start on March 21, Dhoni landed in Chennai on Wednesday to join the CSK camp. But, what caught the eye of the fans was a ‘coded’ message on his black T-shirt. It was identified as a Morse code, which read ‘One last time’, though there are reports that there was an error in the code for the word ‘last’.

Dhoni has been with the CSK since the launch of the IPL 17 years ago, and led the franchise to five IPL titles. He was retained ahead of IPL 2025 auction.

Though he retired from international cricket around six years ago, the 43-year-old, at a recent event, said he can still put his body through "six to eight months" of hard work to be fit for the cash-rich tournament.

"I only play a couple of months in a year, but I want to enjoy it the way I started playing, that's something that keeps me going,” Dhoni said. “But, of course, for that, I need to put in a lot of hard work for six to eight months because IPL is one of the toughest tournaments. Nobody really cares about how old you are. If you're playing at this level, the level needs to be the same."

The message on the T-shirt has sent the Dhoni fans into a social media frenzy again. But, it remains to be seen whether he will stick to his code... err, word, or will he play out the season and drop the bomb when nobody is expecting it, like he always does.