"One last time" - MS Dhoni gives big retirement hint ahead of IPL 2025 with cryptic message

Former India captain MS Dhoni arrived in Chennai on Wednesday, February 26, to join the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Following his arrival, he also possibly hinted about his retirement plans.

Dhoni was spotted wearing a black colored jersey with a Morse code printed at the front while exiting the airport. The decoded version of the code read:

"One last time."

A few fans speculated that MS Dhoni's choice of t-shirt could be a subtle way of him letting people know that IPL 2025 could be his swansong. It is worth mentioning that the veteran wicketkeeper was retained by Chennai as an uncapped player for ₹4 crore.

As per the new retention rules, teams were allowed to retain a capped India player as an uncapped player, given that the particular player hasn't played international cricket or held a central contract for the last five years. Apart from Dhoni, the five-time champions retained Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana.

The franchise also roped in players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Tripathi, Noor Ahmad, Sam Curran and Deepak Hooda at the IPL 2025 mega-action in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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MS Dhoni shares warm hug with Ruturaj Gaikwad after joining CSK camp for IPL 2025

MS Dhoni greeted CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad with a warm hug after joining the camp ahead of IPL 2025. Ahead of last year's edition, Dhoni relinquished Chennai's captaincy and handed over the reins to Gaikwad.

It was an underwhelming campaign for the side as they failed to qualify for the playoffs. They finished fifth in the standings with seven wins and as many losses from 14 outings.

Sharing the video of Dhoni and Gaikwad's hugging, CSK wrote on X:

"A warm hug to the soul!"

Gaikwad will continue to lead CSK in IPL 2025. Chennai will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in their opening game of the season. The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 23.