MS Dhoni will play his last game in Chennai: CSK CEO on wicketkeeper’s future
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan recently opened up on MS Dhoni’s future.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, Dhoni is all set to play his 18th season of the tournament after being retained by his franchise under the ‘uncapped player’category. As a result, CSK managed to retain Dhoni for just INR 4 Crore making sure Chennai’s beloved ‘Thala’ returns to their ‘anbuden’ for one more season.
However, it’s not yet known whether Dhoni will continue playing ahead as well or will the upcoming season be his last hurrah. Recently, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan opened up on the future of the wicketkeeper batter and revealed that the ‘Captain Cool’ keeps everything to himself. He also mentioned his desire of playing his last game in Chennai and said that the doors of the team are open for him as long as he wants to play.
“As far as Mahi bhai (brother) is concerned, you know he keeps everything to himself. It comes out at the last moment only. Knowing the passion he has for CSK, and also knowing the following he has, and he also mentioned in one of the interviews that he’ll play his last game in Chennai, we’re hoping that he will continue as far as CSK is concerned. As long as MS wants to play, the doors are open. Knowing him, his commitment, and his dedication, I’m sure he’ll always take the right decision,” said Viswanathan during a discussion with Rayudu on Provoke TV.
CSK’s retentions for IPL 2025
Dhoni’s return for another season was felicitated by the uncapped player rule which has been re-introduced by the IPL governing council for the upcoming season. The rule which was scrapped in 2021, states that a capped Indian player will become uncapped if he hasn’t played international cricket in the last five years since the beginning of next season and doesn’t have a BCCI Central Contract.
Meanwhile, apart from Dhoni, CSK retained Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 Crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 Crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 Crore), and Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 Crore). After five retentions, CSK have used INR 65 Crore out of their INR 120 Crore Purse value and have INR 55 Crore to build their remaining squad in the mega auction.