One of the biggest speculations going into the mega auction of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was whether the former captain of the Chennai Super Kings- MS Dhoni would be a part of the next edition. The veteran revealed in a recent event that these would depend on the number of retentions allowed.
But can MS Dhoni, the former Indian captain and someone who has served the nation for more than 15 years, be retained as an uncapped player by the franchise for IPL 2025? It’s a new trick that they suggested in bringing back the old rule, which was in place for more than a decade.
In the recent meeting between the IPL committee members and the owners of all ten franchises, several topics were discussed about the retention policy, where a few sides spoke about having more retention for the next season as they have already built their teams around those specific players.
CSK suggests old IPL rule to have MS Dhoni as an uncapped player
During that conversation in Mumbai, it was understood that the Super Kings team wanted to reintroduce the rule that had existed since the inaugural edition in 2008 until 2021 when it was removed for the betterment of all the team.
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The rule states if a player has taken retirement from international cricket for five or more years, then they could be classified as an uncapped player of the league. However, it’s also been known from the rule that the majority of franchises, apart from Chennai, were not in favor of getting the rule back.
MS Dhoni declared his international retirement from the game on August 15, 2020, while fulfilling his five years going into the retention period for the IPL 2025. Before the 2022 season of the league, the wicket-keeper batter was the second player after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to be retained by the franchises, for INR 12 crore. On the other hand, an uncapped player being retained in that year had a price of only INR 4 crore.
Now, if the league sets similar costs for the uncapped players ahead of the 2025 mega auction, then it’s almost assured that CSK is keen to retain Dhoni in that route. But other franchises are not satisfied to tag a big international player in the uncapped category.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) owner Kavya Maran is believed to have stated that allowing a retired player to be retained as an uncapped player would be quite ‘disrespecting’ for the team, the individual, and his value. She also felt that if an uncapped player coming into the auction collected more than that international retained as an uncapped player, then it wouldn’t be ideal.
One of the heads of a franchise at the end of the meeting, said that apart from Chennai, no team gave such an opinion of the rule. However, the question stands, if 43-year-old MS Dhoni continues to play the IPL, then how much could he carry on? He already had handed over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the last edition.
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Even though, it has also been reported that several sides have agreed that if an Indian player had not played international cricket for more than five years, then he should be allowed to lower his base price for the auction. The idea is believed to have come from the IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin.
MS Dhoni has been part of the “Yellow Army” since the inaugural edition, having managed 5243 runs in 229 IPL innings, at an average of nearly 40 and a strike rate of 137.54, besides celebrating 24 half-centuries, at a best score of unbeaten 84-run knock.