With a couple of days left for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to commence, cricket fans are eagerly waiting to watch the legendary cricketers back in action and enjoy their electrifying on-field performances.
Players such as MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Rohit Sharma, Moeen Ali, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Karn Sharma, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and several others will feature their franchises in the 18th season, despite nearing the twilight of their cricketing career.
Let’s take a glance at the five oldest players (as of March 20), who are set to make an active participation in IPL 2025.
1. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings): 43 Years and 256 Days
MS Dhoni— the former captain of the Indian national cricket team and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is still the key player of the IPL. Even at the age of 43, the wicketkeeper-batter has entertained the fans with his lighting speed stumpings, flying catches, brilliant decision-making behind the stumps, and the most explosive finishes with his power-hitting abilities, particularly at the death overs.
Although nearly five years have passed since MSD retired from international cricket in 2020, he still boasts a huge fan following. The interesting point to note is that there is always a a huge roar from spectators at the stadium across any venue in India, to welcome the legendary batter’s arrival onto the pitch.
One such instance recorded was during the epic rivalry between Chennai and Mumbai in the previous season’s IPL at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. As soon as Dhoni made his entry, the noise level spiked upto 131 dB (decibels), which is indeed the loudest cheers and highest dB sound recorded in the history of cricket.
Despite facing a knee injury in the 2023 edition, MS Dhoni promised his fans that he would return stronger in the next season and underwent surgery to ensure complete fitness. Although right-handed batted demoted himself to the No.8 position in a majority of the matches in the last edition, he still scored 161 runs at a batting strike rate of 220.55. Also, he is the leading batter to smash most sixes in the 20th over of IPL.
Having played 17 seasons in the league since 2008, Dhoni led CSK to five championship titles and scored 5,243 runs in 229 innings. His experience will be essential for the Super Kings to claim their 6th title in 2025.
2. Faf du Plessis (Delhi Capitals): 40 Years and 250 Days
Faf du Plessis, the 40-year-old South African batter serves as Axar Patel’s deputy at Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025.
Following his previous stint as the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the veteran Proteas batter has a lot to offer for DC given his several years of experience in international cricket.
Du Plessis has been a core batter in his IPL career and has contributed a huge level of success for the teams he has represented over these years. The right-handed batter scored 4,571 runs in the league and has proven himself as a reliable top-order batter.
As the 2020 edition’s runner-up signed him for INR 2 crores, the expectations are set higher on the senior cricketer to guide Delhi to its maiden IPL title.
3. Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings): 38 Years and 184 Days
Ravichandran Ashwin— the 38-year-old experienced spinner, who announced his all-format retirement in the previous year December marks his homecoming moment with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for IPL 2025.
The Tamil Nadu bowling all-rounder ranks as one of the fiercest off-spinners in the league claiming 180 wickets in 212 matches. As a handy lower-order batter, Ashwin scored 800 runs in 94 innings.
The veteran cricketer once again collaborates with Dhoni to provide crucial breakthroughs for CSK in 2025 and achieve the next championship title.
4. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians): 37 Years and 324 Days
Rohit Sharma— the former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain and the present skipper of Team India’s ODI and test cricket squad, ranks as one of the most destructive batters in IPL history at the age of 37.
The five-time winning captain for MI recently led India to a Champions Trophy 2025 triumph and enters the upcoming season with an amplified level of confidence. Also, he is one of the highest run scorers in the league, having compiled 6,628 runs in 257 matches.
The MI opening batter’s proven talent to anchor the team’s innings and accelerate his performance when required sets his batting style unique compared to other batters.
However, Rohit stepped down from the leadership role in the previous season and proved that he doesn’t require the captaincy tag, given his on-field experience will be essential for Mumbai to claim their 6th IPL title this year.
5. Moeen Ali (Kolkata Knight Riders): 37 Years and 275 Days
Moeen Ali– a renowned all-rounder from England men’s national cricket team, was signed by the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 2 crore. The 37-year-old’s aggressive batting in the middle order and his off-spin techniques helped him score 1,162 runs and 35 wickets throughout his IPL career. Even after Ali’s retirement from international cricket, his active participation in the T20 leagues all over the world promises to add a new dimension to KKR’s starting XI lineup.