Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan has shed light upon crucial information that the franchise has on former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the new season of the Indian Premier League.
New Retention Policy For IPL 2025
BCCI unveiled the retention rules of players by introducing a new clause according to which CSK can retain Dhoni at a fractional cost as well. Dhoni being released from international cricket after his final match, can be retained as an uncapped player for INR 4 crore.
"A capped Indian player will become uncapped, if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI," the new IPL advisory on retention stated.
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CSK To Not Use Uncapped Retention Clause
The good thing was that Viswanathan has said they shall not utilize the uncapped retention clause from their side by trying to retain Dhoni, the iconic wicket-keeper.
"We are not sure at this stage. We might not even use it for MS Dhoni. It's still too early to comment on this because we haven't had discussions with him," Kasi told Times of India.
Dhoni To Decide His Future With CSK
Although Dhoni gracefully stepped down as the captain in the last season because Chennai transitioned under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad, still Dhoni remains the batting mainstay of the team. Viswanathan said Dhoni will finally decide his future, and they also want to discuss the matter with him in the coming days.
"Dhoni was in the US and we haven't had discussions yet. Now I am travelling this week so there is a possibility of some discussions in the coming week. So there could be some clarity then. We are hopeful of him playing but it's a call Dhoni will himself take," adds Kasi.
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MS Dhoni has been the most successful IPL Captain, he has led CSK towards victory 5 times- in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023. Apart from this Dhoni has taken Chennai Super Kings to ten finals in their first 14 IPL seasons.