Chennai hoping to get done with Dhoni retention on priority as they wait for the green light to retain him.
Chennai hope that Dhoni will be part of the upcoming season as he has has not yet confirmed his availability for IPL 2025
“We have still no confirmation from him, though we will like him to continue playing for us,” Viswanathan told. “Hope he will confirm before 31st [October].”
The 10 teams must submit their list of retained players to the IPL by October 31 in order to participate in the super auction. This year, Dhoni is qualified to be retained by CSK as an uncapped player. That became possible when the IPL reinstated a regulation that was removed in 2021. It stated that a player would be deemed uncapped if they had retired from playing international cricket for five years.
Apart from the IPL, Dhoni only plays cricket. He last competed for India in the 2019 ODI World Cup and declared his retirement in August 2020. As a finisher in the 2024 season, he amassed 161 runs at a 220 strike rate.
Even though it is quite likely that CSK will keep Dhoni, if they do so as an uncapped player, they will only forfeit INR 4 crore of their INR 120 crore auction fund.
Prior to the massive auction that takes place before the 2025 season. The IPL franchises are permitted up to six players of which a maximum of five may be restricted internationals. The franchises are free to pay their retained players more than the minimum amounts indicated by the IPL. Those are INR 18 crore for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second. INR 11 crore for the third, INR 8 crore for the fourth, and INR 4 crore for the fifth. For instance, Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), and Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore) are all expected to be retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad.