With Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning the championship after an 18-year drought, the Indian Premier League season of 2025 came to a close. In a tight championship game, Rajat Patidar's RCB team beat the Punjab Kings by six runs to win the trophy for the first time in the franchise's history. Under Hardik Pandya's leadership, the Mumbai Indians also had a much better season, making it to the playoffs before losing to PBKS in Qualifier 2. On the other hand, the Chennai Super Kings' fortunes did not improve as they finished the season with a wooden spoon, suffering only four defeats.

Three of the titans of Indian cricket are represented in all three franchises, RCB, MI, and CSK. In addition to Virat Kohli's productive role in RCB's championship-winning campaign, Rohit Sharma also struck four half-centuries throughout the season, including a player-of-the-match performance in the Eliminator. However, MS Dhoni's season was tumultuous since he had to assume the captaincy in the middle of the season due to Ruturaj Gaikwad's injury.

As the franchise struggled with outdated strategies and poor batting performances, many speculated throughout the season that the 2025 season might be the last time we see Dhoni in CSK colors. But Michael Clarke, the former captain of Australia, thinks Dhoni is the "face" of CSK and that it is crucial that he come back for the upcoming season. Clarke also discussed the IPL futures of Kohli and Rohit in the same breath on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

“I think Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni will play in next year’s IPL. MS Dhoni is huge. There are always more Chennai supporters than supporters of any other team, even when Chennai plays away games. They are there because of MS Dhoni, the sponsors. Clarke stated, "MS Dhoni is the reason the supporters are there."

He is the monarch of that franchise. People don't realize the impact of what they want him to do. It will be a great loss to the franchise when he chooses to retire, he said.

Retirements should be tested.

When discussing Dhoni's future, Clarke mentioned Rohit and Kohli as well, which was not unexpected. The cricketing community was stunned last month when both Indian batsmen announced their retirement from Test cricket. For many, Kohli's departure was especially shocking since specialists and supporters claimed that the batsman was in excellent shape and merely had to improve his weakness against deliveries outside off-stump.

Read Also: Shreyas Iyer Throws His Hat in the Ring for India Captaincy, Says He Belongs in T20Is and Tests

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