Experienced Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stated that he would not retain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player for IPL 2025, despite Chennai Super Kings (CSK) having that option. Instead, Ashwin plans to select the legend as a regular capped player alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, and Matheesha Pathirana.
Last month, the BCCI announced updated IPL player regulations for 2025-2027, reinstating a previous rule allowing an Indian player who hasn’t played international cricket for five years and lacks a central contract to be considered uncapped. Dhoni last played for India in July 2019.
Many fans and analysts believe this rule was reintroduced to enable Dhoni to play another season of the T20 league. However, Ashwin insists that CSK should retain their former captain as a capped player, even with the option to keep him as an uncapped cricketer. The spinner shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel:
“I will give a fresh perspective. I will retain Rutu (Gaikwad), Jaddu (Jadeja), Dube, Pathirana and Dhoni. And I will retain Dhoni as a normal capped player, not as an uncapped player.”
Regarding whom he will retain as CSK’s uncapped player, the 38-year-old mentioned:
“I’ll retain these five and will get Sameer Rizvi as my sixth retention.”
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Rizvi (20), a powerful batter from Uttar Pradesh, was acquired by Chennai Super Kings for an impressive ₹8.40 crore at the IPL 2024 auction. He played 43 balls in the T20 league this year, scoring 51 runs, including four fours and two sixes. Notably, he started his IPL career with a six off Rashid Khan on his very first ball in a match against Gujarat Titans (GT).
Regarding MS Dhoni’s CSK retention for IPL 2025:
According to the updated rules, any player classified as uncapped can be retained by their franchise for ₹4 crore, while retaining a capped player comes at a significantly higher cost.
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Player 1 can be retained for ₹18 crore, Player 2 for ₹14 crore, Player 3 for ₹11 crore, Player 4 for ₹18 crore, and Player 5 for ₹14 crore. According to the rules for the upcoming mega auction, each franchise is allowed to retain up to five capped players and a maximum of two uncapped players.
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