MS Dhoni is entering his 19th edition of the Indian Premier League, and goes into the IPL 2026 season as very much the old man of the league – one of the most successful players, one of the faces of the league, and someone who has experienced it all in this format of the game.
Now 44 years old, Dhoni has spent the stronger half of his life as a professional cricketer. Even for someone who has the fitness and the drive to continue playing top-level cricket into their mid-40s the way he has, those years have a tendency to catch up. And for fans, this fact cut a heartbreaking image in a training session at the Chepauk, where cameras captured MS Dhoni looked quite bedraggled and sore as he walked around the pitch with a limp in his step.
For Indian cricket fans, the image of MS Dhoni is one of a razor-sharp tactician, blessed with incredibly fast hands when he is batting or when he is wicketkeeping, but also one of the fastest players to ever have represented the national team. The always-fit Dhoni made a career out of being able to tear up and down the pitch, turning ones into twos for fun.
Fans respond to Dhoni's pain
{{/usCountry}}For Indian cricket fans, the image of MS Dhoni is one of a razor-sharp tactician, blessed with incredibly fast hands when he is batting or when he is wicketkeeping, but also one of the fastest players to ever have represented the national team. The always-fit Dhoni made a career out of being able to tear up and down the pitch, turning ones into twos for fun.
Fans respond to Dhoni's pain
{{/usCountry}}So when he looked a little tentative as he walked off the pitch, it wasn’t that he seemed completely unable to walk – but he certainly looked a touch off his usual super-athletic self, holding himself back a little bit and in general looking short of 100%.
Fans were quick to react to what they saw as another sign of Dhoni’s waning powers: he hasn’t been the best with the bat in recent seasons outside of flashes, and rumours of hi retirement and questions regarding when he will step back from the sport have tended to dominate discussions around his performances.
While some fans expressed huge concern over Dhoni pushing his body beyond the limit and looking like a shadow of his former self, asking him to give his body a rest, others were full of gratitude for the former Indian captain for making that same push – continuing to do as much as he could for the team he loves, and the fans who had grown to love him.