Chennai Super Kings ended their 2020 IPL campaign on a high after trouncing Kings Eleven Punjab by nine wickets in their last league fixture played at the Shiekh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (November 1)

CSK won their third consecutive game at the back end of the tournament and finished their campaign with six wins in fourteen round robin fixtures. In the larger context, it was one of the worst ever seasons for CSK in the flagship T20 league.

With CSK having not made the play-offs for the very first time in the IPL, all eyes are now on what is the road ahead for the 3-time champions and what future will pan out for their iconic stars like skipper MS Dhoni, Faf Du Plessis, Dwyane Bravo and Shane Watson.

Sunil Gavaskar Elated Over Dhoni Playing For CSK In Next IPL Season

'Little Master' Sunil Gavaskar was both relieved and elated on hearing the news that MS Dhoni had ruled out any possibility of retiring from the league and that he will be available for the marquee T20 league next season.

Dhoni categorically denied speculations over his retirement from the IPL when asked about the same by New Zealand commentator Danny Morrison on whether the game against KXIP was his last outing donning the CSK Yellow.

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“It certainly does (bring a smile on my face). He has been such a charismatic cricketer, he brings so much joy with his batting, with his wicketkeeping, and leadership qualities. And his general demeanor on and off the field, what a role model he has been. The more we see of MS Dhoni, the better we feel,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports during his commentary stint for the CSK-KXIP game after Sunday.

Gavaskar Believes Dhoni Should Play As Much Domestic Cricket In The Build Up To Next IPL In 2021

Gavaskar said his views on Dhoni's future in the IPL were similar to his co-panelist and former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who also backed Dhoni to come back stronger in the next season by playing a lot of competitive cricket ahead of the build up to the 2021 edition of the tournament.

“Well, Sanga said it earlier on as well, he has got to play competitive cricket. Being in the nets is fine but unless he plays competitive cricket, particularly because he is at an age where the reflexes slow down. What do you tend to lose as you get older is your timing. Everything might look good. You look at yourself in the mirror, nothing has changed. You might actually lose a little bit of weight, you might go to the gym to get stronger and fitter. But your timing changes, the timing in the sense, you think your foot is going towards the ball, but it's just that much short for you getting a good drive or the ball going in the air,” he added.

Gavaskar added that since there wasn't too much time for Dhoni to play domestic cricket ahead of the next season, he needed to play as much competitive cricket as possible to get his game back on track. He said if Dhoni got his preparations right, he could score 400 runs in the next IPL season.

“These are little things he has to look at. That means he has to play domestic cricket. There might be no domestic cricket. In that case, not much can be done. But the more he plays competitive cricket, actually matches... in the nets, there will be no pressure, match brings pressure. If he does that, I think he will be good to score 400 runs next year as well.”