The Chennai Super Kings are still yet to hear from their former captain MS Dhoni on the matter of if he will be extending his IPL career. After enjoying a holiday in the USA, Dhoni is said to have returned to the country with the BCCI looking to make their player retention rule known before the commencement of IPL 2025.
Before the beginning of the IPL 2024, Dhoni announced that he would be stepping down from the CSK captaincy with Ruturaj Gaikwad taking over his reins. The legendary skipper only donned the gloves as a wicketkeeper-batter for an entire season that saw the hard-pressed team fail to make it to the playoffs.
CSK are yet to decide on their retention list and are on hold for Dhoni’s call and the formal announcement from BCCI about the retention rule.
“The situation remains that we have not gotten any correspondence from him. We will have a better picture once the BCCI makes a formal declaration regarding the number of retentions,” The Indian Express has quoted its sources.
Ever since the last few seasons, there have been endless rumors bandied around as to when exactly Dhoni will be hanging up his boots from the IPL, a tournament that saw him winning most titles with sub divisional team CSK.
The last two years have seen Dhoni battle with significant injuries. In the previous one, a knee problem that required him to get an operation just a few days after managing the successful campaign limited his mobility. There were suggestions that he played with an injury in IPL 2024 as well which also meant that he could not function as a runner for an extended period.
Dhoni batted down the order for most of the matches and was able to provide quick cameos. He has also been mysterious with regards to his IPL asked whether he would be available for the tournament stating it will depend on various factors like his fitness levels and the retention policies.
“There is a lot of time for it. We have to see what decision they take on player retention and so on. For now, the ball is not in our court. So, once the rules and regulations get formalized, I will take a call, but it has to be in the best interests of the team,” Dhoni had said early this year at an event in Hyderabad.
