Former Australian captain and one of the all-time great cricketers, Ricky Ponting believes that this season of the Indian Premier League might be the last one for former India and Rising Pune Supergiant skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In an interview to cricket.com.au, the Ponting said, “If you think about Dhoni and his age, this might well be his last IPL. There’s no basis to me saying that. It just seemed like a strange time to move him on as captain if he wasn’t coming towards the end.”

“We’re talking about someone who’s 35 years of age and has pretty much achieved everything in the game. He’s won a World Cup, he’s captained his team to be the No.1 Test team in the world, he’s captained IPL-winning teams as well. There’s not much left for him to achieve out of the game. It’s going to come down to how hungry he is and how much he wants it.”

Dhoni has not been in the best of form in this IPL. In nine matches, he has scored 173 runs at an average of 28.83 and a strike rate of 120.97. His sole half-century (61*) came against Sun Risers Hyderabad where he finished the match in his signature style. His mixed form has earned him a lot of criticism off late.

Citing the criticism Dhoni has received, Ponting said, “I think it’s a downside of having the great success that he’s had over a long period of time.”

Giving his own example, he said, “I’ve been there myself and when you start to slide just a little bit, criticism is going to come your way. And to be fair, he probably hasn’t had much negativity come his way over the past 15 or 20 years. So it’ll be really interesting to see how he handles that over the coming weeks.”