{"id":52254,"date":"2026-05-18T21:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=52254"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:24:11","slug":"ms-dhoni-spotted-with-teary-eyes-at-chepauk-mid-innings-is-this-his-retirement-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ms-dhoni-spotted-with-teary-eyes-at-chepauk-mid-innings-is-this-his-retirement-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"MS Dhoni spotted with teary eyes at Chepauk mid-innings: Is this his retirement moment?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MS Dhoni walked onto the MA Chidambaram Stadium ground mid-innings on Monday evening, and the sight of it stopped Chennai cold.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It was the first time in IPL 2026 that Dhoni had come to the ground on a match day. He is not in the playing XI. He is not on the substitutes bench. Ruturaj Gaikwad confirmed at toss that Dhoni was not \u201cfit enough\u201d to take the field. And yet, there he was \u2014 visibly emotional, eyes glistening, standing on the ground he once called home.<\/p>\n

The occasion was a CSK squad photoshoot for IPL 2026 \u2014 a customary end-of-season portrait session the franchise holds before their last home game of the year. But nothing about Monday felt customary. The crowd at Chepauk, already louder and tighter than usual, erupted the moment Dhoni appeared. The security cordon around the stadium had been noticeably heavier all day. People had clearly been expecting something.<\/p>\n

And they were right to.<\/p>\n

Dhoni\u2019s wife Sakshi, daughter Ziva, and some of his closest friends were all present at Chepauk tonight. That kind of gathering, on that kind of occasion, on what is CSK\u2019s final home game of the IPL 2026 season, does not go unnoticed. It does not feel routine.<\/p>\n

Dhoni had said it himself, years ago \u2014 his last game would be in Chennai. At Chepauk. In front of the people who made him what he is. Tonight is CSK\u2019s last match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium this season. The equation is simple, and everyone inside the ground seems to understand it without needing to say it.<\/p>\n

He came to training on Monday, as he has done throughout the tournament \u2014 facing throwdowns and spin bowlers for 30 to 40 minutes, then leaving. He is 44 years old. The knee has not allowed him to play in IPL 2026. But tonight he came to the ground. Tonight, the family is here. Tonight, his eyes said something his words have not.<\/p>\n

Whether this is the moment, whether Dhoni announces his retirement after the final whistle, will only be known post-match. CSK have not confirmed anything. There has been no official communication. The man himself has said nothing.<\/p>\n

But Chepauk is not waiting for an announcement. It already knows what it feels.<\/p>\n

*This is a developing story. Updates will be added as they come.*<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Disclaimer: This article contains forward-looking observations based on on-ground visuals and circumstantial developments. No official confirmation of MS Dhoni\u2019s retirement has been made at the time of publishing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MS Dhoni walked onto the MA Chidambaram Stadium ground mid-innings on Monday evening, and the sight of it stopped Chennai\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":52255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[320,3797,5532,3801,5533,69,4057],"class_list":["post-52254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl","tag-chennai-super-kings","tag-csk","tag-csk-vs-srh-ipl-2026","tag-ipl","tag-ipl-2026","tag-ms-dhoni","tag-top-stories"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52256,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52254\/revisions\/52256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}