At 43, Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be the heartbeat of the Chennai Super Kings. Wherever the CSK side has played this season, the famed No.7 jersey has flooded stadiums across the country. While the five-time title holders’ haven’t had the best of seasons in IPL 2025, and are already eliminated from the play-offs race, the team managed to get a third win under their belt against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday night.

It’s been a ruthless season for the Yellow Army fans, and Dhoni, who has scored more runs than he did in 2023 and 2024 but failed to resurrect the team’s fortunes, acknowledged the support despite the team languishing at the bottom of the table.

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Wednesday’s game against KKR saw Dhoni staying all the way through, as he played second fiddle to Shivam Dube. Once the left-hander perished, the CSK captain calmly smashed a six off the first ball of the 20th over to put the visitors en route to victory.

“That’s the love and affection I have got throughout, not to forget, I’m 43 and I have played for a long time,” said Dhoni at the post-match press conference.

“They don’t know when it will be my last year, it is a fact that I play only two months a year. This IPL gets over, then I have to work for the next 6-8 months to see if my body is able to take this kind of pressure. Nothing to decide as of now, but the love and affection I get everywhere is excellent,” he added.

Reflecting on the team’s performance this season, Dhoni said he preferred to be practical and prepare the bunch of players for the next season. Plagued by a number of injuries to key players, CSK finally found some youngsters who could flex their muscles at the fag end of their campaign. But Dhoni believes it gives the side an idea to prepare the core for next year.

“It is only the third game we have won. It is good to be on the winning side. Quite a few things have not gone our way. What is important is to be practical. Identify what has gone wrong. We have 25 players who can fill and I was focusing on that. We want answers for the next year, which batter can slot in where and which bowler can bowl where, according to the conditions”

The win against KKR was set up by a blitz from one of their latest entrants, Dewald Brevis, as the South African took the Knight Riders’ fast bowlers to the cleaners. He even struck a couple of boundaries against Sunil Narine, including a six.

Right from his debut against SRH, Brevis has added a lot of muscle to CSK’s middle-overs batting with his belligerent approach and range of strokes. Dhoni underlined the 22-year-old’s knock, which helped the others to handle KKR’s potent spin attack with minimal risk.

“You have to keep their spinners out of the game. Thanks to Brevis, he gave us that luxury.”

Dhoni’s partnership with Shivam Dube produced 43 runs, and while it took 39 balls, the pair did manage to help the side get over the line. Dhoni revealed that the tactics were simple when quizzed about their conversation in the middle.

“Don’t give wickets to Sunil and Varun, then we will see. This is not a big ground, I said take it slightly to the end, not to forget, I was the last batter, that was the thinking. He played calculated shots, and he hit two sixes, and that brings the rate down,” he said.

With a lot of youngsters in the mix and new fresh signings, Dhoni revealed what the management has been looking at the most in the rookie players.

“Hardly anyone was scoring runs, yes, you will get out sometimes. But you back yourself and play the shots you feel you can do. These are the players who are part of the squad now. You may see them in the nets, in the practice games, give them a chance and see how they react. You don’t look at the cricketing aspect or the technique but their mental strength and game awareness,” he said.