Former Indian batsman Suresh Raina who is apparently capable of playing another 4 - 5 years of cricket in the Indian Premier League has asserted that if Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni were to announce his retirement from the tournament in 2022, he would be retiring as well.

In a recent interview with a news agency, Raina has mentioned that he will convince Dhoni to lead the team next year in IPL 2022 if CSK wins the trophy this year. Raina was reportedly quoted as saying, "If Dhoni doesn't play the IPL next year, then I will also not play. We have played together since 2008. And, if we win the IPL this year, I will convince him to play the next season as well. Two new teams will be coming in next season but I want to keep playing for CSK. I hope we do well in this tournament, then we will see how things go." Dhoni and Raina have been part of the CSK franchise since IPL's inception in 2008.

Notably, Raina announced his retirement from international cricket minutes after Dhoni retired on August 15 last year. Claiming that it was pre-planned, Raina had earlier explained why he and Dhoni had chosen that particular day (August 15) to announce their news. He had stated, "We had already made up our minds to retire on Saturday (August 15). Dhoni’s jersey number is 7 and mine is 3 – put it together and it makes 73. And on August 15, India completed 73 years of independence, so there couldn't have been a better day."