The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly going to put MS Dhoni in the category of uncapped players when it announces the player regulations ahead of the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025).
According to the Times of India report, the BCCI will go back to its own rule, which has been in place since the first IPL season, under which players who have retired from international cricket for at least five years are considered uncapped.
It implies that retaining Dhoni, a legendary former India and CSK captain, will not be prohibitively expensive for CSK; under the previous retention criteria, an uncapped player might be kept for Rs 4 crores. CSK had signed Dhoni for Rs 12 crore in 2022.
Asked whether Dhoni would be treated as an uncapped player in the 2025 IPL auction, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told TOI: "I've no idea about it. We've not requested for it. They (the BCCI) have themselves told us that the 'uncapped player rule' may be kept, that's all. They (the BCCI) haven't announced anything as yet. The rules and regulations will be announced by the BCCI."
CSK management pushed for the rule during the meeting between owners of IPL franchises and BCCI on July 31 last month in Mumbai.
MS Dhoni’s last international match came in the 2019 World Cup and he announced his retirement on August 15, 2020. Ahead of the IPL 2024, MS Dhoni stepped down as CSK captain, handing the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Dhoni had struggled with his fitness issues in the last two IPL seasons. In IPL 2023, he was hampered by a knee injury, for which he underwent surgery as soon as CSK won the final in Ahmedabad. Then in IPL 2024, he played the entire tournament with a hamstring injury.
Arriving to bat only in the death overs, the 43-year-old scored 161 runs in just 73 balls that he faced, at a strike rate of 220.54, and an average of 53.66.
At an event in Hyderabad this month, Dhoni stated that he would wait for the IPL player regulations before deciding whether or not to play in the next season of the IPL.
(Times of India report)
