The ball, it seems, is now in MS Dhoni's court after the Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Regulations announced by the IPL Governing Council (GC) on Saturday re-introduced the 'uncapped player' rule that had been scrapped in 2021.
The rule, which applies to Indian players only, states that a player will be considered uncapped "if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI."
It has now cleared the way for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to retain Dhoni, whose last international match was the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, as an uncapped player.
Dhoni retired on August 15, 2020, but continues to play the IPL.
According to the player retention rules announced by the IPL GC, a franchise can retain two uncapped players and five capped players (Indian/Overseas).
The value of an uncapped player has been fixed at Rs 4 crore. To retain five capped players, the franchise will have to pay in the following slabs:
Player 1: INR 18 crores
Player 2: INR 14 crores
Player 3: INR 11 crores
Player 4: INR 18 crores
Player 5: INR 14 crores
The amount spent by a franchise on retention of players will be deducted from its total purse of INR 120 crore for the upcoming players' auction ahead of IPL 2025.
However, it remains to be seen what the 43-year-old Dhoni decides, after his lap of honour following CSK's last home game of the 2024 season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium dropped hints that it might be his last IPL match in Chennai.
Dhoni had also stepped down from captaincy before IPL 2024 began, handing it over to batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad. He played as a finisher the entire season, coming lower down the order while batting with a troublesome knee.
When asked at an event lately if he will play another season of the IPL, Dhoni had said that he will wait to know the player-retention rules before discussing anything with CSK.
