MS Dhoni’s future with the Chennai Super Kings and in the IPL will depend on the BCCI decision on number of retentions ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction.
Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni quit international cricket more than four years back on August 15, 2020. But the ex-captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has carried on his career in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Now ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction later this year, the question on everybody’s mind is whether ‘Thala’ Dhoni will decide to continue for one more season.
If Dhoni does decide to end his IPL career, he has plenty of lucrative options in leagues for retired international cricketers. One of them is the Legends League Cricket (LLC), which will begin a new season from Friday (September 20).
Dhoni’s former teammate and ‘Mr IPL’ Suresh Raina was asked when can his fans see the former CSK skipper in the LLC. Raina, who will be leading the Toyam Hyderabad team in LLC 2024, hinted that the league’s bosses might be in talks with Dhoni already.
“I would love to see him, to be honest. You need to ask the bosses. They might be talking to him in the future,” Raina said at a press meet on Tuesday.
When asked if he would like to bring Dhoni to his team if the latter joins LLC, Raina joked that all the eight teams will be after the India star.
CSK team management are trying their best to get clarity on the number of retentions that each franchise will get ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Dhoni’s future in the IPL will depend on the number of retentions allowed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Another former CSK player Ambati Rayudu said that BCCI should allow retention of more players ahead of IPL 2025 season. In the last mega auction held in 2022, the IPL teams were permitted to retain up to four players. With the end of the three-year cycle approaching, there are differing opinions among franchises about the optimal number of retained players.
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Rayudu, who will be turning out for Konark Suryas Odisha in LLC 2024, felt that increasing the retention limit would benefit teams. “Since a club makes significant investments in the players, I believe the rate of retention needs to be far higher. Since the team’s core is what distinguishes each team in the IPL, the longer the core is there, the longer the team’s culture will endure. A higher retention rate increases the likelihood of success. Not just one or two, but all of the key players ought to be kept on,” Rayudu stated at the LLC press conference.
The IPL Governing Council is yet to finalize the retention policy for the upcoming season. Rayudu also warned the Indian men’s cricket team to not take the Bangladesh cricket team lightly in the Test series. The first Test against Bangladesh will commence on Thursday at the M.A. Chidambaram Cricket Stadium, Chennai.
“It will be a challenging series for India against Bangladesh, they shouldn’t take them lightly for the reason of how they have performed against Pakistan. However, the favourites are the Indian team but Bangladesh pacers will be a trouble for them,” said Rayudu.
(with IANS inputs)