AB de Villiers, former South Africa captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) legend, has lauded MS Dhoni's longevity ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 edition, which kicks off on March 22. Dhoni, at 42, is gearing up for his 17th IPL season, which is believed to be his last-ever appearance in the cash-rich league.

In IPL 2023, he led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fifth title and many believed he would retire from the hugely-popular T20 league owing to his knee injury. However, the Chennai keeper-captain is set for another IPL season, highly impressing De Villiers. 'He just seems to be this diesel engine that never ends' On his YouTube channel, ABD said, "There were a lot of rumours about MS Dhoni finishing up last year; that was not the case, ladies and gentlemen. He would be back again." He further opined, "Will this be his final season? No one knows. He just seems to be this diesel engine that never ends. He keeps running. What an incredible player, what an incredible captain,'' the ex-Proteas cricketer mentioned. Would've given Rohit Sharma one more season and let Hardik Pandya be vice-captain: Yuvraj on MI captaincy De Villiers shifted his focus on the CSK setup and lauded their team management for always backing their core group, which has worked wonders for the Yellow Army. He added, "'I believe it's through their presence, it's through the leadership of MSD, a calm coach in Stephen Fleming, senior players in Ravindra Jadeja and others who have really set this incredible culture alive. They are a very intimidating team to play against. They are never easy to beat. That is always a great characteristic of a very successful unit, of a very successful franchise." CSK are eyeing a mighty sixth IPL title in the upcoming edition. They have been further bolstered with the addition of Daryl Mitchell, Mustafizur Rahman, Rachin Ravindra etc., however, will miss opener Devon Conway who is likely to miss the entire edition due to injury concerns. CSK take on RCB in IPL 2024 opener, in Chennai, on March 22. CSK squad for IPL 2024: MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Avanish Rao Aravelly, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Mukesh Choudhary.