The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League produced some enthralling cricket with new runs barriers were reached and batting became aggressive like never before. The IPL 2024 also saw some key performers from both the young brigade and the senior pros. With the mega-auction planned before the 2025 season, many of these teams will probably have completely different looks in next year’s tournament. Also, as the next auction will decide the team’s structure for three years, we may see some of the senior players opting to be not part of the auction process and retire from their excellent IPL careers. There are some absolute legends of the game for whom this could be their last IPL season.
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni is one of the biggest names in world cricket and no one can ignore his contribution to Indian cricket over the last 20 years. Although Dhoni was not part of the Indian team post the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he continued to play IPL and even won the trophy in the 2023 season. In IPL he is one of the most successful captains as he led Chennai Super Kings to the title on five occasions and took the team to Playoffs in almost every season.
Dhoni is also one of the most successful wicket keepers in IPL scoring more than 5,000 runs and was involved in nearly 200 dismissals. He is also the biggest crowd puller and thanks to his charisma his team CSK got unprecedented support in every part of the country, especially since Dhoni’s retirement from international cricket. However, MS Dhoni is currently 42 years old and IPL is the only competitive tournament he plays. With his health issues and other commitments, it looks like IPL 2024 will be MS Dhoni’s swansong after which he may take a coaching or mentorship role in the CSK setup.
David Warner
Like MS Dhoni, another player who played a key role in enhancing the popularity of IPL in the early years is David Waner. The Australian opener is a legend of the game who has won almost all the silverware and also led his team Sunrisers Hyderabad to an IPL title in 2016. Over the years, Warner has played some destructing innings and scored over 6,500 runs including four hundreds and 62 half-centuries, and won the Orange Cap on multiple occasions.
There were controversies especially when his relationship with the SRH management deteriorated before the 2022 auction and he returned to the Delhi Capitals franchise with whom he started his IPL journey. However, age is catching up with him and even in the IPL 2024, he has missed quite a few games due to injuries. He has already retired from the ODIs and Test cricket and is expected to retire from all international cricket, post the 2024 T20 World Cup. He may play franchise cricket for a few more years but may not cope with the requirements of IPL and may look to take a different role.
See also: WPL2024: Countdown starts for the Knockouts!
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has already proved himself to be one of the most knowledgeable young commentators with his commentary in key tournaments over the last two years including the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. However, in IPL he keeps playing for RCB and proves himself to be one of the best finishers of the league.
Karthik’s IPL journey saw him playing for six different franchises including Kolkata Knight Riders whom he led between 2018 and 2020. Karthik played different roles during his long career for different IPL teams with bat at both the top and middle order. In the last three seasons with RCB, Karthik found a way for his enterprising batting and played some memorable knocks for the franchise. However, he is nearing his 39th birthday and another cycle of IPL looks less likely.
Shikhar Dhawan
Another Indian player who has had a long IPL career is Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan was picked in the 2008 IPL even before making his international debut and over the last 17 years, he played for four different franchises even as the leader for last few years.
He has played more than 220 IPL matches and scored nearly 7,000 runs in the Indian Premier League. However, injuries played a part in the last few seasons, and he missed three matches in IPL 2023. In IPL 2024, Dhawan could play only five games till now, and with his team already eliminated, it is unlikely that he will take any more part in IPL 2024. Dhawan will turn 39 in December and may not look to continue playing IPL in near future, especially since his chance of making an India team comeback is very slim. Hence IPL 2024 could be the last time we see Shikhar Dhawan playing for an IPL team.
Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis also has a very long IPL career playing for three different franchises. He has played nearly 150 IPL matches scoring around 5,000 runs primarily for Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challenger Bengaluru, the franchise he has been leading since IPL 2022. By the next IPL Auction, Faf will be forty and since he has retired from all international cricket there will be a very low chance that he would like to continue with another cycle of IPL cricket for three years. Instead, he also may take a coaching role in any of the franchises or look to build a career as a commentator.
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