India, March 20 -- MS Dhoni is entering his 19th edition of the Indian Premier League, and goes into the IPL 2026 season as very much the old man of the league - one of the most successful players, one of the faces of the league, and someone who has experienced it all in this format of the game.

Now 44 years old, Dhoni has spent the stronger half of his life as a professional cricketer. Even for someone who has the fitness and the drive to continue playing top-level cricket into their mid-40s the way he has, those years have a tendency to catch up. And for fans, this fact cut a heartbreaking image in a training session at the Chepauk, where cameras captured MS Dhoni looked quite bedraggled and sore as he walked around the pitch with a li...