Regarding the Chennai Super Kings' retention plans for the 2025 Indian Premier League, Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO, disclosed a message from MS Dhoni. All eyes are on the five-time winners as it is unclear if MS Dhoni will want to be kept for the upcoming league season. October 31, 2024, is the cutoff date for keeping players ahead of the big auction.
CSK CEO reveals message from MS Dhoni
The Chennai Super Kings want MS Dhoni to participate in the IPL for at least one more season, Kasi Viswanathan reaffirmed. In contrast to past years, when he declared he would be back for the next season, Dhoni has not said anything regarding his future in the Indian Premier League. Although he had made it seem as though IPL 2024 would be his last, it seems that plans have changed as a result of CSK's inability to make the playoffs last season.
"We also want Dhoni to play in the CSK team. But Dhoni has not confirmed it to us yet. Dhoni said, 'I will tell you before October 31.' We hope that he will play," Kasi Viswanathan said at an event, as quoted by Sports Vikatan.
There is conjecture that CSK may use the reinstatement of the uncapped player rule, which permits teams to keep players who have not participated in international cricket for the previous five years for a fee of Rs 4 crore. The 43-year-old former captain of CSK last competed for India in July 2019 during the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand.
For the 2025 IPL season, CSK hopes to keep their core group together. The IPL organizers declared that each team will be able to keep up to six players from their current roster by using Right To Match cards during the auction and retention prior to the auction. Prior to the massive auction, each team may keep up to five capped players and two uncapped players.
Despite having a knee ailment, Dhoni participated in all 14 Super Kings games in the previous campaign. The wicketkeeper-batter, who mostly played cameo appearances further down the order, scored 161 runs with a strike rate of 220. When leading the Super Kings to their sixth championship in the 2023 season, Dhoni amassed 104 runs at a strike rate of 182.46.
Dhoni has frequently stated that his future with the Super Kings would rely on auction and retention rules, acknowledging his age and ability and making it apparent that he does not want to interfere with the team's balance going forward. Nevertheless, the former cricket player for India is still in high demand among IPL players
