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Dhoni to participate in Legends League Cricket? LLC CEO drops major hint with 'We came to Ranchi on a mission...' post
Ahead of the start of LLC 2023 in March, Raheja had told HT that he would want Dhoni to be part of the league in the near future.
Away from the buzz of World Cup disappointment and the India-Australia T20I series that kicked off in Visakhapatnam on Thursday evening, few yesteryear cricketers remained in their bubble of nostalgia in the city of Ranchi as 2023/24 edition of the Legends League Cricket hosted its final match in the city. And during the tensed clash between Urbanisers Hyderabad and India Capitals, LLC CEO Raman Raheja dropped a major hint on MS Dhoni's participation in the league.
Ahead of the start of the 2023 LLC tournament held in Doha earlier this year in March, Raheja had told Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview that he would want Dhoni to be part of the league in the near future. He had even namedropped India superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his remark.
"My future plan is to position this as a second innings for players. And I would love to have MS Dhoni come and play sometime. Or may, all we know, five years later we have a Kohli vs Rohit take place," he had said.
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LLC have witnessed participation from former India cricketers like Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Pragyan Ojha among few others. However, Dhoni, who quit international cricket in August 2020, has not yet been a part of the event. The reason behind it has been BCCI's rule for players. With Dhoni still committed to Indian Premier League (IPL), where he plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he remains ineligible to play in LLC. For him to make a commitment towards the tournament or any other overseas leagues for that matter, he will have to retire from IPL.
However, it seems Raheja is rather keen to get an early confirmation from the 2011 World Cup-winning captain as the LLC CEO was spotted having a word with the Ranchi superstar on Thursday. He later shared pictures from that moment and posted on X writing: “Good start is half the battle won. We @llct20 came to Ranchi on a mission. Not just won hearts of thousands of fans but met the “Legend” in his town. Just Honoured!! It’s time to scale up and move ahead. #LegendsLeagueCricket #msdhoni.”
Dhoni, who led CSK to their fifth IPL title win in 2023 edition, is yet to confirm his participation in the 2024 season after having undergone a knee surgery.
“Knee has survived the operation, going through the rehab patch, the doctor told me you would feel much better by November. But no problem in day-to-day routine,” the 42-year-old had said earlier in October during an event in Bengaluru.
