In the recent BCCI and IPL franchise owners meeting in Mumbai on July 31, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) officials suggested bringing back a scrapped rule so that they could retain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.
As per reports, CSK wanted the reintroduction of a rule that had existed since the inaugural edition in 2008 until 2021, when it was believed to have been scrapped at the behest of teams. According to this rule, if a player was retired from international cricket for five or more years, they would be classified as an uncapped player.
However, this suggestion by CSK didn’t get any backers as the majority of other franchise owners were not in favor of reintroducing the rule.
MS Dhoni had retired from international cricket in 2020. Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, CSK retained MS Dhoni as their second player behind Ravindra Jadeja, which cost them INR 12 crores from their auction purse. An uncapped player retained that year cost the team only INR 4 crore.
If the IPL sets similar costs for uncapped players retained ahead of the 2025 auction, CSK is expected to pursue Dhoni through that means. However, several other franchises opposed providing long-retired international uncapped status.
Sunrisers Hyderabad owner Kavya Maran is believed to have stated that retaining a retired player as an uncapped player would be "disrespecting" the individual as well as their value, which would be much more at an auction.
She further added that it would be a "wrong precedent" if an uncapped player purchased at auction was paid more than the former international who was retained as an uncapped player. Her notion was that the retired player participates in the auction, with the market determining their fair price.
The topic of whether Dhoni, 43, will continue to play in the IPL arose around the end of the last few seasons. Following knee surgery in 2023, he turned over the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad for the 2024 season and played a limited role with the bat.
Dhoni recently stated at an event that he and CSK will wait till the player retention rules are set before deciding whether to play in the 2025 season.
However, all ten franchise owners unanimously agreed that Indian players who have not played international cricket for five years should be allowed to lower their base price at the auction.
The notion is said to have come from IPL chief operational officer Hemang Amin, who believed that a lower starting price would increase the chances of such players being bought during the auction.
According to a franchise executive, capped Indians who had not played internationals in several years were forced to enter the auction at a high base price, resulting in their names being unsold despite appearing on the bidding list multiple times.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
