Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir endorsed former captain MS Dhoni’s comeback to the Indian team in 2020, despite the latter’s long absence. Following India’s elimination from the 2019 ODI World Cup, the 39-year-old had not participated in international cricket for nearly a year.
A few months prior to the 2020 IPL season, which was postponed because of COVID-19, Gambhir made these comments.
On a Star Sports program (via India Today), he stated:
“Age is just a number, I think if you are in a very good form if you are hitting the ball really well. “MS Dhoni, if he is hitting the ball really well, if he is very good form, if he is enjoying the game and if he thinks that he can still win the game for the country at that number especially at six and seven. If he is in great fitness and form, he should continue playing because no one can actually force anyone to retire.”
Gambhir continued:
“A lot of experts can put a lot of pressure on people like MS Dhoni because of their age and stuff but again it’s an individual decision, when you started playing cricket it was your individual decision.”
Fortunately, Dhoni said he was retiring as an international cricketer less than one month after Gambhir. The two, together with Dhoni as the team captain on both occasions, helped India to win the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2007 T20 World Cup.
MS Dhoni continues to thrive as IPL captain after international retirement
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) continued to depend on MS Dhoni even after he retired in international cricket in August 2020. CSK made a robust recovery under his guidance to win their fourth IPL in 2021 after a poor performance in 2020. In 2022, however, the team failed to make the playoffs once more with Dhoni on board.
MS Dhoni won a record equalling fifth title with CSK in 2023; subsequently relinquishing captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad in 2024 ahead of IPL 2024. The team then found it hard and missed the playoffs in 2024 and ended up bottom in 2025. Gaikwad had been hurt toward the end of 2025, so Dhoni again took the reins.
