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'I don't think anyone can take a call on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whether this is going to be his last year.'
Could IPL 2024 be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's final season as a player?
Dhoni defied all expectations to guide Chennai Super Kings to their fifth IPL earlier this year in IPL 2023.
It was expected to be the legendary skipper's last season as a player, but after winning the title he has found renewed energy to continue for one more season, at least.
Prasanna Agoram, one of the world's top sports analysts who has worked with Dhoni at Rising Pune Supergiant, believes the CSK skipper is only getting "younger and fitter".
"There is a good chance that he might come back and play another season as well," Prasanna Agoram tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian in the second of an exclusive multi-part interview.
Could this be Dhoni's last year as an IPL player? Do you see any succession plan activated this year to find a new skipper? Maybe someone like Ruturaj Gaikwad...
Look Dhoni is only getting younger and fitter. You just see the way he looks, the pictures that are circulating on social media particularly with long hair.
You never know this could be the second innings of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is also clear that Dhoni's presence is inspiring CSK players.
He is not a selfish person. He can only easily promote himself up the order but he doesn't. He gives all the players the chance and he himself comes to bat at a very difficult position.
He has won many matches last season as well. Unfortunately, he was struggling with a knee problem, but now the surgery is done and he looks very fit.
You never know, maybe CSK might just announce a vice-captain next season, particularly an Indian player, maybe Ruturaj Gaikwad.
I don't think anyone can take a call on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whether this is going to be his last year. There is a good chance that he might come back and play another season as well.
If you see Imran Tahir, he won the Caribbean Premier League at the age of 44. If Tahir can do it, why not Mahendra Singh Dhoni?
Will not having a top class match-winning specialist spinner hurt teams like Mumbai Indians, RCB and Punjab Kings?
To be very honest, RCB is very thin when it comes to the spin department. Punjab Kings have managed well with Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar. In fact, Chahar has been consistent; his problem has not been wickets but his economy rate.
And when it comes to Mumbai Indians, Piyush Chawla has done a great job if you see his economy. They also got a like-to-like replacement in Shreyas Gopal, who is experienced. They have Kumar Karthikeya, who has done well, they have got the seasoned Shams Mulani, who plays for Mumbai and is very economical.
They got Mohammad Nabi as the spin all-rounder and he could feature on slow turning wickets like Lucknow and Chennai, where he could not only play as an off-spinner but also add value as the power-hitter at No. 7 and No. 8.
So if you see to an extent Punjab and MI can manage, but I am really worried about RCB because they don't really have a proven spinner in their ranks and they are going to play seven matches at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru which is a high-scoring venue.
You spent five years with RCB as the analyst from 2008 to 2013. Was it surprising to see RCB bid as high as Rs 20.25 crore for Pat Cummins even though they had Rs 23.25 crore in their kitty?
If SRH had pulled out at that point, wouldn't it have created a problem for RCB since they needed more players?
I don't know whether it is a blessing in disguise for RCB because the other teams bid more than what they did.
They only had around Rs 23 crore and had they got Cummins at that price their purse would have been out. Then they managed to bag players like Lockie Ferguson, Tom Curran and Alzarri Joseph. You just can't go in with just one fast bowler.
Fast bowling is tough and any fast bowler (likely to) get injured (more often) at any point which happened to them last season with Reece Topley.
So it would have been a huge risk and RCB would have been all out if they had picked Starc or Cummins. If they had spent around Rs 20 crore they wouldn't have managed to get any back-ups at all.
Now they have Alzarri Joseph, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson and they already had Topley, so they have got 3-4 good fast bowlers. So whatever happened at the auction was good for RCB and if one of their seamers click then it would be good for them.