Each franchise will be allowed to retain 6 players, with one uncapped mandatory retention.
The IPL governing council published the guidelines for the players' retention policy for the upcoming season. The IPL announced a new regulation that will allow CSK to retain their former captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for INR 4 crore.
The great wicketkeeper was last retained by CSK for INR 12 crore, but it appears that the BCCI has brought back a specific rule for players like Dhoni, who have not played international cricket in the last five years.
"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. This will be applicable for Indian Players only," IPL statement read.
MS Dhoni is yet to confirm whether he’ll play in IPL 2025 and many speculated that IPL 2024 was his final outing for CSK. Dhoni has played the last two seasons with injury as he won the IPL 2023 for CSK with a knee injury. In IPL 2024, Dhoni suffered a hamstring strain and played despite the pain.
Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja said Dhoni will definitely be one of the players CSK will retain for next season. He asserted that the legendary wicketkeeper has always been selfless and doesn't mind getting picked as an uncapped player.
"One is MS Dhoni for sure. There is no doubt about that because firstly he has become an uncapped player now and he has shown for so many years that he doesn't desire to be No. 1 or No. 2 to make the team. So there is no doubt at that value," Ajay Jadeja said on Colors Cineplex.
Ajay Jadeja also identified two additional players, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja, whom Chennai will undoubtedly keep ahead of next year's auction. Gaikwad and Jadeja have been significant cornerstones for CSK in recent years.
"Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad had a good year, so you will want to keep him as well. You cannot leave Ravindra, I am not talking about Rachin, I am talking about Jadeja. I feel these three are perfect for them," he added.
Jadeja believes Matheesha Pathirana should be Chennai's international pick. The Sri Lankan bowler has 34 wickets in 20 matches over the last three seasons. He also stated that CSK will save two RTM cards for the IPL 2025 mega auction.
"You would not want to leave Pathirana. I am seeing him as one of the overseas players. You need to keep players not because of the money, but their style. So I feel these four will be their main players and they will keep two RTMs," Jadeja observed.