MS Dhoni leads possible end of eras: 5 IPL veterans who could make their last appearance this year

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 18th season gets underway on Saturday. The league has come a long way and it’s effect on the cricketing world over the years is something that would require multiple pages to describe. There have been a few players who have seen it all, if not from the beginning itself, then from the very early years of the IPL. By extension, there is a chance that we could be seeing the last of these legends this season.

Let’s take a look at some of the players who could be making their last appearance in the IPL this season:

MS Dhoni: Easily the most obvious name on this list and yet, there is no telling if Dhoni will really bow out this season or not. The 2023 season was largely seen as a farewell for Dhoni, especially when he ended up leading Chennai Super Kings to their fifth league title. However, he returned the next year as a wicketkeeper and a lower order batter, having handed over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. CSK then retained him ahead of the mega auction in November last year thanks to a little tweak that was made in the IPL rules that stated who could be an uncapped player, with the new wordings being popularly called the ‘MS Dhoni rule’.

It has to be noted that Dhoni ensured that he remained useful to the team’s cause in some way or the other last season. His wicketkeeping skills seemed to be as good as ever and Dhoni came in to bat as low as No.8 and hit most of the few deliveries he faced for boundaries. The 43-year-old may have only scored 161 runs but that came at a strike rate of 220.54 and average of 53.66 in 11 innings.

Faf Du Plessis: The former South African captain will definitely be among the fittest players in the league when he takes the field for his new side Delhi Capitals this season. He has also reinvented himself into the perfect big-hitting T20 opener in recentr years. Du Plessis struck at over 140 in just one of the 10 IPL seasons he played between 2012 and 2022. However, his strike rate at the end of the 2023 season was 153.68 in 14 matches and 161.62 in 15 matches at the end of 2024 edition.

The fact remains, though, that Du Plessis is 40 years old and, as we could see in the case of an IPL legend like David Warner going unsold in this auction, this league can be quite cruel to older players if they don’t perform. Du Plessis himself was quite brilliant as a batter and as captain for RCB the last two years and yet, they had to release him ahead of the mega auction. If he doesn’t manage to get going for DC this season, it won’t be too much of a shock if he is not retained and goes unsold next season.

David Miller: Miller’s career saw a resurgence when he joined the Gujarat Titans and was an integral part of their title-winning debut season and their run to the final the year after. He wasn’t at his best last year, in which GT finished eighth and was subsequently not retained.

He will turn up for the Lucknow Super Giants this season. Miller did showcase his prowess in South Africa’s Champions Trophy semi-final loss to New Zealand, smashing an unbeaten 100 in 67 balls in a losing cause. However, what was said for his fellow South African Du Plessis applies to him as well. Miller is 35 and turns 36 this June. A poor season might lead to him not retaining a spot in the side next year and then, his future will be at the mercy of the market economics of the auction.

Ravichandran Ashwin: One may think that Ashwin would want to put in a few good years back at CSK before calling it a day but his retirement from Test cricket did come somewhat out of nowhere late last year. Ashwin’s three-year stint with the Rajasthan Royals came to an end when they chose to not retain him ahead of the mega-auction and he ended up being signed up by CSK, the franchise with whom he first made his name between 2009 and 2015.

CSK generally don’t tend to let go of their senior players that easy and so an off season for Ashwin this year may not mean curtains to his second stint with the five-time champions. However, it will be a different story if the 38-year-old felt like he has had enough himself. After all, he was as important as ever to the Indian Test team in home conditions when he decided to call it a day.

Mohit Sharma: Mohit Sharma was integral to Gujarat Titans’ sensational second season in the IPL and had an off season last year when they finished eighth, thus leading to him not being retained ahead of the mega auction. He will now turn up for Delhi Capitals under Axar Patel.

Mohit had been somewhat forgotten before he took a whopping 27 wickets at an average of just 13.37 in the 2023 IPL to power GT to the title. He then averaged 32.69 last season and took 13 wickets. Mohit is now 36 years old and so an ordinary season for DC could make his future quite uncertain in the league.