Former New Zealand seamer Simon Doull has made a bold comment, calling Rishabh Pant an ideal successor to MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

As per the guidelines, each of the 10 IPL franchises can retain up to six cricketers, through the retention and Right To Match (RTM) option. These six retentions/RTMs can consist of a maximum of five capped players (both Indian and overseas) and up to two uncapped players. October 31 is the deadline for retentions ahead of the grand auction.

With barely a few days remaining for the deadline, Doull listed out his possible retentions for CSK. The cricketer-turned-commentator named current captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and former skipper MS Dhoni as the first three retentions.

“Ruturaj Gaikwad then top of the tree Ravindra Jadeja absolutely there, Matheesha Pathirana I think absolutely. I see MS come out and say that I will let you know the day before the retentions are allowed. He’s keeping them on a little bit of a string at the moment as to whether he is gonna be there. Obviously, if he’s available and ready to go, he’s another one they have to keep a hold of. He’s the franchise man,” said Doull on Sports18.

His list also featured the name of Rachin Ravindra. Doull further suggested that five-time champions are going to break the bank for Rishabh Pant if he enters the auction pool.

“After what I’ve seen in this series I think Rachin Ravindra. And as I said the other day, I think they’re just going to go heavily for Rishabh Pant if he goes into auction. He’s their man to take them through post MS Dhoni wherever that maybe,” he added.

Notably, Pant’s tweet on October 12 sparked speculation whether the left-hander will be released by the Delhi Capitals.

However, DC co-owner Parth Jindal had confirmed earlier that Rishabh Pant is guaranteed to be retained by the franchise.

“Yes, we definitely have to retain. We have some very good players in our team. The rules have just come out, so after discussing with GMR and our director of cricket, Sourav Ganguly, decisions will be made. Rishabh Pant will definitely be retained,” Jindal had said while speaking to media.

Interestingly, the Capitals parted ways with Sourav Ganguly after Jindal’s comments, replacing the former India skipper with Venugopal Rao as Director of Cricket.

It remains to be seen what decision the DC franchise management takes with regards to Pant’s retention.