“Have seen many athletes struggle after retiring…”: Zaheer Khan on Dhoni’s post international cricket life

Speaking on JioCinema, Zaheer said that many athletes struggle after retiring since their sport becomes everything for them.

New Delhi: Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan on Wednesday for keeping himself switched-off from sport and staying occupied with non-sporting things following his retirement from international cricket in 2019, pointing out that the World Cup-winning skipper is well aware that cricket is not everything for him.

MS Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, with the ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal match against New Zealand being his last outing with India. Since then, he has only featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and even lifted two more titles with them following his international retirement.

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Speaking on JioCinema, Zaheer said that many athletes struggle after retiring since their sport becomes everything for them.

“We have seen many athletes struggling after retiring because they gave their everything to the game, and when they left it, they did not know what to do. MS Dhoni understood a long time ago that while cricket is an integral part of his life, it is not everything. He keeps doing things outside of sports. For example, his interest in bikes,” said Zaheer.

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel also lauded Dhoni’s thought process, which he feels is more focused on doing his job well rather than worrying about results.

“His (Dhoni’s) processes are like the verse, ‘Karm kiye jao, fall ki chinta mat karo (Keep doing your work, do not worry about result).’ If you work hard and prepare properly, the results will follow. His process mantra is ‘Whatever we perfect in practice, we will replicate in the game’,” said Parthiv.

Dhoni’s status in IPL 2024 was subjected to scrutiny by fans as he played the last season with an injured knee. He also underwent knee surgery immediately after the season earlier this year, which was successful. The last season was also rumoured to be Dhoni’s last IPL season.

But following his team’s fifth title win earlier this year, MS had said in the post-match presentation, “If you circumstantially if you see it is the best time to announce the retirement. The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire. But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But with the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift for them to play one more season. The way they have shown their love and emotion, it is something I need to do for them.”

MS Dhoni scored 104 runs in 12 innings this IPL 2023. He scored these runs at an average of 26, with a strike rate of above 182. His best score this season was 32*.

A lot of his runs came through his signature big sixes.

In 250 IPL matches, Dhoni has scored 5,082 runs at an average of 38.79 and a strike rate of over 135, with 24 half-centuries and best score of 84*. He is the seventh-highest run-scorer in IPL history.

Dhoni will once again be leading CSK in this season of the IPL, aiming for a record-breaking sixth title for the Yellow Army.

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at their home arena–MA Chidambaram Stadium.