MS Dhoni, the former Indian captain, has been a legendary player for the Indian Cricket Team and the Chennai Super Kings. The Ranchi man has been retained by CSK ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction for Rs 4 crore as per the uncapped player rule.
The rule was there till the IPL 2021 but was revoked after that because no franchise used that. It has been brought back ahead of the upcoming mega auction with the sole purpose of retaining Dhoni. The rule says that a franchise can retain a player as an uncapped player if he has not played international cricket for five years.
Meanwhile, former Australian captain and Punjab Kings Head Coach, Ricky Ponting, praised Dhoni and said that the former Chennai Super Kings captain returned to his absolute best in IPL 2024 after suffering for two seasons. He feels that the franchise might not use him for the full IPL 2025 season and might rest him in some matches. However, they will hope to get the best out of their former captain.
He said “Two seasons ago he probably had his worst season, but then last year again, he bounced back into really impacting some games like the MS Dhoni of old. I think it will be exactly the same now…they might not get him through the whole season. They might think about leaving him out for a game and resting him up here and there to make sure that they’re getting the best out of him.”
MS Dhoni brings is a wealth of experience: Ricky Ponting
Ponting went on to say that Dhoni can bring a wealth of experience to any team even without playing in the matches. He will always serve as the leader or the mentor given the experience and the game awareness that he has. Ponting feels that Dhoni will still influence games for Chennai even sitting on the sidelines.
“The leadership that he brings on and off the field”, Ricky Ponting elaborates on how MS Dhoni can impact games for CSK in IPL 2025
“Any team that he’s in, whether he’s captain or not, he’s always going to be a mentor and a leader around that group, whether he’s playing, whether he’s sitting on the sidelines, that’s just who he is…he’s crucial to Chennai, for that leadership that he brings on and off the field,” Ponting stated.
The former CSK captain is the most successful captain in the league along with Rohit Sharma, having won the tournament five times. He is also the only international captain who has won all three ICC titles: The T20 World Cup in 2007, the ODI World Cup in 2011, and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Dhoni played with his knee injury throughout the last season but did display his brutal finishing skills with some explosive cameos at the back end of the innings. Fans flocked to the stadium to see their favorite player hitting the big sixes and the boundaries and also impacting the matches in his own way.
