During the discussions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the reports claimed how to retain MS Dhoni, the former captain of the Chennai Super Kings, the members of the franchise asked to reactivate the uncapped rule, where an Indian player, having not played any international game for the last five years, can be coined as uncapped.
The former Indian captain has led the Super Kings to five IPL trophies, with the latest being in 2023, but at the age of 43, the question was whether the franchise would take the risk of giving away nearly 16-18 crore for MS Dhoni for the next three seasons of the league.
The IPL had an old rule back in 2008, where they allowed the retired Indian players from international cricket five years before the respective season to go into the auction as an uncapped player. The rule was, however, changed in 2021 during the broader discussion on the uncapped players.
IPL to reintroduce ‘retired’ uncapped player rule; CSK to have MS Dhoni
The governing council, of the league, has already reached out to every franchise to inform their decision regarding reactivating the retired uncapped player rule. MS Dhoni, who played his last international game in July during the second semifinal of the 2019 World Cup in Manchester, is activated for the selection.
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The media release in the IPL expressed that even if the player doesn’t have a central contract with the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI), then he will be approved under this rule.
“A capped Indian player will become uncapped if he has, in the five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant season is held, not played in the starting XI in international cricket and does not have a central contract with BCCI. This will be applicable for Indian players only.” The media release stated.
Ahead of the last mega auction in 2022, MS Dhoni was retained as the second player by the Super Kings for INR 12 core, after Ravindra Jadeja for INR 15 crore. He turned 43 this July and has featured only in the IPL after retiring from international cricket in 2020. In that case, the Yellow Army can retain him as an uncapped player by spending only INR 4 crore.
He handed over the captaincy on the eve of the last season to their young opening batter, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led the team in an incredible way for the entire two months but failed to qualify for the playoffs of the season, having lost their last group game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
MS Dhoni is the sixth-highest run-getter of the league and the second leading run-scorer for the team, with 5243 runs in 229 innings at an average of under 40 and a strike rate of nearly 140 with the help of 24 half-centuries at a best score of unbeaten 84 runs.
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The Ranchi-born is also the most successful leader of the league, having collected 133 victories in 226 games at a win percentage of 58.84 and a losing rate of 40.26%. The question remains if he wants to play the next season, despite showing his desire to feature in his last game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk, Chennai.
Most recently, MS Dhoni was asked about his future in the tournament, and he mentioned waiting till the rules of the retentions are finalized before deciding on his future as a player.