Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the successful captain of world cricket will likely to be the uncapped player of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. Under his captaincy India has won 1 T20 World Cup, 1 ODI World Cup and also 1 Champions Trophy. It is also noticeable that he has one of the successful captain of IPL with 5 IPL trophies.
He played the last international match in 2019 against New Zealand in the ODI World Cup. In that match India lost the match by 18 runs in the Semifinal. He retired from the international cricket in 2020 i.e. during the Covid times with an emotional social media post. But till then Dhoni continued to play for his favorite team in the IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). CSK also became the champion of IPL in 2021 under his captaincy. In this session he handed over the captaincy to his team mate Rituraj Gaikwad and unfortunately CSK has failed to qualify in the playoffs.
But the question arises what will be the Dhoni’s future in World Cricket. The 43 year old legend had given his country 3 ICC trophies (T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and also Champions Trophy). He has also 5 IPL trophies. Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) likely to put the “legend” Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an uncapped in the next edition i.e. in 2025 session of IPL.
According to the rule of BCCI which is placed during the inaugural season of IPL i.e. which players who have retired from international cricket for at least five years will be put to uncapped categories.
In 2022 CSK management retained Dhoni for Rs. 12 crores. That means retaining a former legendary captain and cricketer in world cricket will not too cost heavily to CSK management as per the last retention rules.
Whether Dhoni will be playing the next IPL or not as an uncapped player; regarding this CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told that “I have no idea about it. We have not requested for it. The BCCI have not announced anything yet. The rules and regulations will be announced by the BCCI.”
The IPL franchises and BCCI hold a meeting in Mumbai regarding the auction on July 31st last month. In the death overs the 43 years scored 161 runs in just 73 balls with a strike rate of 220.54 and an average of 53.66.
“There is a lot of time for it. We have to see what decision they take on player retention etc. Right now, the ball is not on our court. So, once the rules and regulations get formalized, I will take a call, but it needs to be the best interest of the team,” said Dhoni at a promotional event at Hyderabad regarding his next IPL.
So, we have to see whether the legend of world cricket will play the next IPL or not.
