India: MS Dhoni undergoes successful knee surgery

The knee surgery of former Indian captain MS Dhoni is successful, said Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan on Thursday.

"MS Dhoni's surgery has been successful. We do not know much details but he is recovering well," the CSK CEO said.

Dhoni underwent surgery at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai.

Dhoni's led CSK to their fifth IPL title after a five-wicket win in a thriller over Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Monday.

He had flown to Mumbai from Ahmedabad after the final on Monday and consulted renowned sports orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, who is also on the BCCI medical panel and has performed surgeries on a number of top Indian cricketers, including Rishabh Pant.

“He is doing fine and will be released in a day or two. He would be resting for a few days before his extensive rehabilitation starts. It is now expected that he would have enough time to get fit to play in the next IPL,” said a CSK source.

MS Dhoni scored 104 runs in 12 innings this IPL 2023. He scored these runs at an average of 26, with a strike rate of above 182. His best score this season was 32*. Dhoni usually came out to bat in death overs and entertained the crowds with his entertaining cameos, mainly consisting of towering sixes. He smashed three fours and 10 sixes this season. But his season was filled with some struggles as he was often seen limping at the crease and even his cheetah-like running between the wickets became slower because of his knee injury.

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After the IPL win, Dhoni hinted that he could play one more season as a "gift" for his fans, but it depends on how his body holds up for the next few months.

"If you circumstantially see it's the best time to announce the retirement. The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire. But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But with the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift for them to play one more season. The way they have shown their love and emotion, it is something I need to do for them," said Dhoni in a post-match presentation.

"It is the last part of my career. It started over here and the full house was chanting my name. It was the same thing in Chennai, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can," added Dhoni.

Dhoni is considered as one of the greatest cricketers produced by India. In his international career that lasted from 2004-2019, he scored 17,266 runs at an average of 44.96, with 16 centuries and 108 fifties. His best individual score is 224. ODIs were Dhoni's best format. In 350 ODIs, he scored 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57, with 10 centuries and 73 fifties at a strike rate of over 87.

With 829 dismissals, he is the third-most successful wicketkeeper in the history of international cricket, next to Adam Gilchrist (905) and Mark Boucher (998). His lightning-fast stumpings have earned him a lot of acclaim.

He is the only captain to have won all major ICC tournaments, i.e. the ICC T20 World Cup (2007), ICC Cricket World Cup (2011) and ICC Champions Trophy (2013).

He has also led CSK to five IPL and two Champions League T20 titles. (ANI)

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