The Chennai-based franchise confirms that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni will be back and playing his 18th season with them in the IPL on October 31. Ever since there have been several speculations about his future in the tournament from the IPL 2024 season, fans of the beloved “Thala” can rejoice as he gets ready to entertain them once again in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
This also coincides with the IPL governing council reintroducing the uncapped player rule for the forthcoming season. Discarded in 2021, this rule states that a capped Indian player will be considered uncapped if he has not played international cricket in the last five years and does not hold a BCCI Central Contract.
According to the media release by IPL, “A capped Indian player will become uncapped if, in the last five calendar years preceding the relevant season, he has not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test matches, ODIs or T20Is) or does not have a Central Contract with BCCI. This will apply only to Indian players.”
Thanks to this rule, CSK retained Dhoni’s services at the cost of an uncapped player at INR 4 Crore, freeing their auction purse of INR 20 Crore. Dhoni has been a cornerstone in the franchise, leading CSK to a record five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023.
Apart from Dhoni, CSK have retained Ruturaj Gaikwad at INR 18 Crore, Matheesha Pathirana at INR 13 Crore, Shivam Dube at INR 12 Crore, and Ravindra Jadeja at INR 18 Crore. With five retentions, CSK have spent INR 65 Crore of their INR 120 Crore purse, leaving them with INR 55 Crore to build the rest of their squad in the upcoming mega auction.
