Chennai Super Kings’ icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday hoped that his last T20 game would be played in Chennai but kept the timeline open-ended.

Dhoni, who led CSK to their fourth Indian Premier League title last month in the UAE, has said in the recent past his playing future is not set in stone as it would depend on what the franchise’s retention plans are ahead of the mega auction.

“I have always planned my cricket. The last game I played was in Ranchi. The last home game in ODI was at my hometown in Ranchi. So, hopefully, my last T20 will be in Chennai. Whether it’s next year or in 5 years’ time, we don’t really know,” Dhoni said at CSK’s IPL victory celebration in Chennai on Saturday.

Speaking in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, India Cements vice-chairman and Manging Director N Srinivasan, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, Dhoni said CSK’s fan following even during the two years when they missed the IPL had kept the team going.

“Overall, it is the fan following which CSK has got, it goes much beyond Tamil Nadu, it goes beyond the borders of India. Wherever we play – be it in Bengaluru, Johannesburg or Dubai, we have got the support. Even during the lean patch, we missed two years of IPL and that was the period CSK was most talked about on social media,” he added.

Srinivasan was all praise for Dhoni and his leadership.

“People talk about Dhoni’s legacy and where he is going. He has not gone anywhere, he is still with us,” said the former BCCI chief.

Here’s the full video of the felicitation ceremony (Dhoni’s speech is from 42 minutes till 49 minutes):

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With PTI inputs