Dhoni undergoes knee surgery; CSK says he could play next IPL

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni successfully underwent left knee surgery in a Mumbai hospital on Thursday.

Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings to their fifth IPL title, had flown to Mumbai from Ahmedabad after the final on Monday and consulted renowned sports orthopedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, who is also on the BCCI medical panel and had performed surgeries on a number of top Indian cricketers, including Rishabh Pant.

“Yes, Dhoni has had a successful knee surgery at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai on Thursday. 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,” a source close to CSK management said.

Dhoni had played the entire season with heavy strapping on his left knee and while he looked absolutely fine during wicket-keeping, he came into bat as low as No. 8 at times and didnt look in his element while running between the wickets.

On Wednesday, CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan had said that whether Dhoni wants to undergo surgery will be completely the iconic captain’s call.

After the IPL final, Dhoni had said: “If you circumstantially see, it’s the best time to announce 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 the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift for them to play one more season.”

(With Agency inputs)