On the eve of the IPL 2024 opener, MS Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain, handing over the leadership baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad, who failed to take the team to the playoffs.
Despite struggling with a calf injury, Dhoni’s performance this season was remarkable as he amassed 161 runs at an average of 53.66 and a staggering strike rate of 220.54 across 11 innings.
While many experts believe that it was Dhoni’s last IPL season, the 43-year-old has kept his cards close to chest.
Meanwhile, veteran India spinner R Ashwin has highlighted the possibility of MS Dhoni featuring in the IPL 2025 season as an uncapped player.
During the BCCI and IPL franchise owners meeting in Mumbai on July 31, the CSK officials reportedly suggested bringing back a scrapped rule so that they could retain Dhoni as an uncapped player ahead of the upcoming mega auction.
As per reports, the five-time champions 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. Notably, Dhoni hasn’t played international cricket since 2019.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin touched on this topic and said: “Will Dhoni play as an uncapped player? That's a big question mark. The point is correct. He hasn't played international cricket for many years. He has retired. So, he is an uncapped player. He is not a capped player. Can a player like Dhoni play as an uncapped player? That is another conversation. Obviously, if someone talks about Dhoni, everyone will talk about it.”
Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, the Super Kings retained MS Dhoni as their second player behind Ravindra Jadeja, which cost them INR 12 crore from their auction purse. If he was to be retained as an uncapped player, it would cost only INR 4 crore.
However, CSK reportedly didn’t get any backers as the majority of other franchise owners were not in favor of reintroducing the rule.
The franchises have also raised concerns about prominent overseas players skipping mega auctions over the past cycles (2018-24) but register their names for mini auctions to attract higher bids.
The mini-auction held in last December saw the Australian duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins fetching huge amounts. While Kolkata Knight Riders shelled out a whopping Rs 24.75 Crore to secure the services of Starc, Sunrisers Hyderabad roped in Cummins for a hefty sum of Rs 20.50 Crore.
Commenting on this issue, Ashwin said: "There is a new fun rule coming up that is going to change everything. I am saying this clearly. What do all the foreign players do? Skipping the mega auction. Today is the mega auction. I am going to farm in my city. Instead of coming to the auction, I will come to the mini-auction to build a house in Sydney for this mini-auction. Tomorrow, I am buying the Maldives. The day after tomorrow, I am buying a ship in Fiji. They have come to the mini-auction so far. What they are saying is that the highest value of an Indian player is your value. You can go for as much as you want."
