Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra spoke on the future of MS Dhoni with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise. Dhoni is currently the captain of the franchise but there is uncertainty over his stay with CSK.
Dhoni, who announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020, had snubbed the rumors of his retirement from IPL in CSK's final match last year with a "definitely not" remark. But whether he will continue with the same role for CSK in the upcoming seasons is still doubtful, especially when mega-auction is coming up.
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Chopra believes CSK will not let Dhoni go as he is the 'soul' of the franchise. "One thought is that you do not retain MS Dhoni. But CSK without MS Dhoni is like a body without a soul. I feel he will play one more year," he said.
"There are a lot of speculations if the current one is his last IPL, I feel he has got one more IPL left in him. Even though he is not a 3-year investment, CSK will not think about that and will retain him as their first retention," he added in a video on his YouTube channel.
Apart from Dhoni, CSK could go for Ravindra Jadeja as their second retained player. However, Chopra feels there is a chance that the all-rounder may ask CSK to let him go if there is a new Gujarat-based franchise that offers him the captaincy.
"The second retention, unless Jaddu says he wants to go, he would know by then if a Gujarat team is there and he wants to go there and become the captain. If that happens then it is different, else Jaddu will be the second retention."
For the Right To Match card in the auction, Chopra picked Deepak Chahar and Suresh Raina, while the likes of Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran can be bought back.
"In my opinion, this team will use two 'Right to Match' cards. One will be on Deepak Chahar, you will definitely want to retain him, and you can use the RTM card on Suresh Raina."
"Whom all they will have to let go - Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran. They can buy them in the auction if possible but you will not be able to retain them with the RTM card," he said.
CSK also have a rising star in Ruturaj Gaikwad and it will be interesting to see how the franchise treats him ahead of the next IPL season which will also see two new franchises.
