Mahendra Singh Dhoni has returned to his home Ranchi a day after Chennai Super Kings' elimination from IPL 2024 after suffering defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday night. The legendary wicketkeeper batter was dejected after his side's title defence ended at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

In the run chase of 219 runs and with the additional responsibility of scoring at least 201 runs to achieve playoff qualification, CSK ended up scoring 191/7 despite late cameo knocks from Dhoni (25) and Ravindra Jadeja (42). Dhoni got out on the second ball of the final over after smashing a 110-meter six. He failed to pick the slower delivery and got out, which shifted the momentum completely in RCB's way.

The former CSK captain made 25 off 13 balls with the help of three fours and a huge six, showing that he can still send the ball a long, long way.

Dhoni was spotted at Ranchi airport on Sunday as he returned home a day after the heartbreaking defeat in a match which could possibly be his last in the cash-rich league.

The legendary wicketkeeper has not announced his retirement from IPL yet but the speculations are rife that he has already played his last match on Saturday.

The 41-year-old played IPL 2024 with some discomfort in his knee as he was often seen limping off the field with an ice pack on his knee.

'MS Dhoni is the Thala of the Chennai Super Kings: Matthew Hayden

Former CSK opener Matthew Hayden shared his views on Dhoni's legacy at Chennai after his team failed to qualify for the playoffs this season.

”Yeah, I suppose the thing is when you come to the end of your career, whether it is the last part of his career or not, what you don't want to see is diminishing returns as an athlete. Firstly, as a leader, he is The Thala of the Chennai Super Kings. This is telling me that nothing here is about becoming anything else other than first place. He's desperately using his brains, all of that cricket knowledge. And of course, the power is there and that's always been MS Dhoni. He's always hit balls at this stage of an innings. At the front, you can understand how players can hit it. But at the back, it's really hard to hit balls,” Hayden told Star Sports.

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