Batting legend and former West Indian captain Brian Lara said that the three-time IPL winning franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should retain their captain, MS Dhoni, for the next season of the IPL in 2022. Notably, Dhoni has been with the team since the beginning of the league way back in 2008, leading the team to eight finals and three IPL titles also.

Dhoni has been the pillar of the CSK team, has smashed 4728 runs at an impressive average of 39.4 runs in 218 matches for CSK as well. However, Brian Lara has also shared that the Chennai-based franchise will definitely retain MS Dhoni.

"You'll see me in yellow next season but whether I'll be playing for CSK you never know" – MS Dhoni@MSDhoni | #MSDhoni | #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/SU9KCh86vH

— DHONI Trends™ (@TrendsDhoni) October 8, 2021

While speaking with Cricket.com, he said that despite his poor show with the bat this season, it is not the end of him. He said:

“It’s very difficult to see Chennai Super Kings going into the 2022 IPL without Mahendra Singh Dhoni. So I believe in terms of the value of the brand and what he brings to the IPL and his franchise is of great value. I believe CSK will retain him if they need to retain any players.”

“MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are two brands in India” – Brian Lara

Brian Lara referred to Dhoni as the biggest brand in Indian cricket along with Virat Kohli.

“I mean it’s (IPL) not just franchise cricket in India. This is a brand. Dhoni, along with Virat Kohli, are the two biggest brands in India. Obviously, you want to pick the best team and you want to make sure that everybody is fit and everybody is capable of performing at the highest level. Yes, Dhoni has underperformed this season but it’s not the end of the road for him.”

He continued:

“Well you can see me in yellow, but whether I’ll be playing for CSK – there are a lot of uncertainties around it for a simple reason that we have two new teams coming up. We don’t know the retention policy. We don’t know how many foreigners, Indian players we can retain, the money cap that every player will be cutting from the kitty. So there are a lot of uncertainties.”

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