I Will Retain MS Dhoni As....: R Ashwin Gives Blockbuster Retention Comment On 5-Time IPL-Winning Captain

All eyes will be on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on the IPL 2025 retention day as the fans are eagerly waiting for a word on MS Dhoni's future. The BCCI has reintroduced the uncapped player's rule and CSK can retain Dhoni for Rs 4 crore. Under this rule, a player who hasn't played international cricket for 5 years can be retained for Rs 4 crore.

Dhoni last played for India in July 2019 and CSK will only have to pay Dhoni a sum of Rs 4 crore to retain his services. Two weeks before the retention date, R Ashwin has delivered a blockbuster comment on Dhoni and said that he wil retain him as a capped player.

"I will give a fresh perspective. I will retain Rutu (Ruturaj), Jaddu (Ravindra), Dube, Pathirana and Dhoni. I will retain Dhoni as a normal capped player, not as an uncapped player. I’ll retain these five and will get Sameer Rizvi as my sixth retention," the former CSK spinner said on his YouTube channel.

Apart from Dhoni, Sandeep Sharma, Vijay Shankar and Piyush Chawla are prominent players who can be retained in the uncapped category by their respective franchises. The rule was in place from 2008 to 2021.

There is no doubt over Ruturaj Gaikwad's and Ravindra Jadeja's future with CSK. Ruturaj has been with CSK since 2019 while CSK have always retained Jadeja. He was the Yellow Army's first-choice retention and earned a sum of Rs 16 crore per year from 2022 to 2024.

Ruturaj made his IPL debut in 2020 and won the Orange Cap in 2021. CSK retained the opening batsman before the IPL 2022 mega-auction. Dhoni stepped down as CSK's captain before IPL 2024 and handed over the charge to Ruturaj. Ruturaj could be CSK's first-choice retention, which will mean a salary of Rs 18 crore for him.

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