Former India and CSK captain seen playing exhibition tennis [In pictures]

Former India captain MS Dhoni was pictured playing tennis at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association's tennis facility in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on Thursday, January 16. Dhoni is an avid fan of the sport and is often seen playing tennis in his hometown.

The photo, shared by tennis player and coach Sumeet Kumar Bajaj on his Instagram handle, shows Dhoni essaying various strokes with a tennis racquet. Bajaj, in his Instagram bio, professes to be Dhoni's doubles partner as well as a GPTCA ATP coach.

You can see the pictures here:

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MS Dhoni registered himself as an uncapped player in the 2025 IPL auction

Quite interestingly, MS Dhoni, who has retired from international cricket, registered himself as an uncapped player in the 2025 IPL auction, held in November 2024. This was due to a change in rule by the BCCI, which mentioned that players who have retired from international cricket before five years, will be considered as 'uncapped.'

However, his franchise Chennai Super Kings had anyways retained him ahead of the auction. Dhoni has been a CSK legend, having played solely for them since the inception of the IPL in 2008 barring a couple of seasons. He plied trade for the Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 and 2017 when the Super Kings were banned due to match-fixing allegations.

Dhoni also won the IPL on five occasions as captain of CSK, as well as two Champions League T20 titles. Ahead of the 2024 IPL, he made way for India and young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad to take up the reins.

Dhoni is widely known to be among the most successful captains in the history of the sport. Team India won the ODI and T20 World Cups under his watch. Dhoni also led India to the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, as well as three Asia Cup titles.