Legendary Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020, is yet to confirm his future plans. The 43-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was last seen in action for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 match played against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, and since then there has been no update about him. It was reported that the 2024 edition of the IPL will be his last appearance in the cash-rich league, but he didn’t officially confirm his retirement, nor did his IPL side. In fact, it was reported that he will be seen in action for the five-time champions in the 2025 edition of the world’s richest franchise cricket league as well.
The BCCI announced IPL 2025 retention rules last month in which it stated that any Indian cricketer who hasn’t played any international match in the last five seasons can be retained as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. After BCCI’s rule change, it became almost clear that Dhoni will play in IPL 2025 for the Chennai-based franchise.
But according to Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan, the legendary cricketer is yet to disclose his future plans.
The franchise wants Dhoni to play in the 2025 edition of the cash-rich league, but the final decision will be of Dhoni’s only, and he will update the team owners about it before October 31, which is also the last date to announce player retention.
“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 was quoted as saying by Sports Vikatan.
Dhoni, who is the most capped player in IPL history, also sits in the No. 6 position in the leading run scorer list. In 14 matches of IPL 2024, he scored 161 runs with a strike rate of 220.55 and was only dismissed thrice.
While there is still suspense over Dhoni’s availability, CSK are set to retain captain Rututraj Gaikwad, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube, and pacer Matheesha Parthirana ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
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