Barely 36 hours after the IPL final in Ahmedabad, Mahendra Singh Dhoni visited the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai on Wednesday to consult specialists for treatment on his injured left knee.
Sources told The Telegraph that the Chennai Super Kings captain, who guided his team to their fifth title in the early hours of Tuesday, was treated under the supervision of Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, head of the Centre for Sports Medicine.
He has been advised surgery following multiple investigations through the day. It’s unclear if he was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday but the surgery is expected to take place soon. The CSK management has been kept in the loop.
The former India captain was accompanied by wife Sakshi and team physician Dr Madhu Thottappil at the hospital.
Dr Pardiwala recently performed surgery on India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who was injured in a car accident last December. Pant is already on the way to recovery and has been undergoing physiotherapy sessions at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Dhoni played all 16 matches for CSK with the injury. An image of him with an ice pack during the team’s lap of honour at the MA Chidambaram Stadium after their last home game was widely circulated. He was also seen around with a knee cap on multiple occasions.
Dhoni even joked during a post-match interview that teammates shouldn’t make him run too much. The only time he didn’t seem to care for his dodgy knee was when Ravindra Jadeja sprinted towards the dugout after hitting the winning boundary in the final, and in a rare display of emotion, the CSK captain lifted him in one motion.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming admitted during one of his media interactions that Dhoni was nursing a knee injury.
“He is nursing a knee injury, which you can see in some of his movement, which is hindering him somewhat,” Fleming had said after their match against Rajasthan Royals in April. “But still what you saw is a great player for us. His fitness has always been very professional.”
Dhoni too said after the final that his participation next season depended a lot “on his body”.
“Circumstantially if you see this is the best time for me to announce retirement. But the amount of love and affection that I have been shown, wherever I have been this year...,” Dhoni said.
“I think the easy thing for me to say would be to say ‘Thank you very much’, but the tough thing for me would to work hard for nine months and come back and play at least one more season of IPL. But a lot depends on the body.
“It would take 6-7 months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side. It’s not easy for me but the way they have shown their love and affection, that’s something that I need to do.”
Dhoni also said that he had been moved by the sentiments of the people all over the country.
“You do get emotional for a simple fact that it’s the last part of my career and I think it started over here when I was playing the first game (of IPL 2023). I just walked out and the full house was chanting my name.
“My eyes filled with (tears) and I just stood there in the dugout for a while, and I took my time and realised that I want to enjoy it and not take the pressure.”
Dhoni, however, rarely showed any signs of discomfort as he sprinted between the wickets and also was electric behind the stumps. His stumping of Shubman Gill in the final will rank among his best.
He batted lower down the order at No.7/8, except for the final, and concentrated on big hits in a bid to avoid too much running. He finished with 104 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 182.45 and smashed three fours and 12 sixes during the tournament.
Dhoni is expected to take a decision on his participation in the next season only around December ahead of the IPL auction. The eagerness to get himself treated shows that he is determined to get back on the field for one last hurrah.
