MS Dhoni said he doesn’t know if he will be part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) setup as a player in the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni, who has been CSK’s captain since the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, said on Thursday that fans will see him “in yellow” next year, but there is uncertainty on whether that will be as a player.

“You’ll see me in yellow next season, but whether I’ll be playing for CSK you never know. There are lots of uncertainties with the two new teams coming up, we don’t know the retention policy, how many foreigners or Indian players we can retain, the money cap for teams and so on. We will wait for it to happen and hopefully it will be good for everyone,” said 40-year-old at the toss ahead of CSK’s match against Punjab Kings at the Dubai International Stadium.

Dhoni also said that it has been difficult to maintain fitness this season due to the frequency of matches in the second half of the 2021 IPL. The season was earlier postponed indefinitely when the tournament bio-bubbles in Ahmedabad and New Delhi were breached amid the deadly second wave of Covid-19. It has since resumed in the UAE and CSK are through to the playoffs.

“It’s tough to maintain fitness. Once the IPL was postponed, it meant there will back-to-back games (whenever the tournament resumes). We had that sort of a stretch but, looks good, no concern with fitness,” said Dhoni.

Dhoni, who has led CSK to three IPL titles, earlier indicated that he will be playing his farewell game in Chennai.

“When it comes to farewell, you can still come and se play me for CSK and that can be my farewell game. So, you will still get that opportunity to bid me farewell. Hopefully, we will come to see Chennai and play my last game over there and we can meet fans there,” Dhoni said while interacting with fans during the 75th year celebrations of India Cements on Tuesday.