Chennai Super Kings reportedly want the BCCI to bring back an old rule that will allow them to retain MS Dhoni as a non-cap player for IPL 2025. The BCCI and IPL franchises met in Mumbai on Wednesday (July 31) to discuss the rules for the upcoming mega auction.

As of now, there is not much clarity regarding MS Dhoni’s participation in the IPL 2025. In May this year, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan had admitted that even the franchise was not sure about their former captain’s participation in the competition next year. At the same time, Viswanathan had also said that CSK was hopeful that Dhoni would play in the IPL 2025.

The 43-year-old’s future has been a topic of conversation for quite some time. Many expected him to retire from the IPL after guiding CSK to their fifth title in 2023. Soon after the tournament, he also underwent knee surgery and not many expected him to continue as a player. However, MS Dhoni also played in the IPL 2024, though he handed over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad.

He has played a limited role with the bat in the past few seasons and 2024 was no exception either. This year, he faced just 73 balls in 14 games. At a recent event, the former India captain also said that he and CSK would wait for the player retention rules to be finalised before taking a decision on playing the 2025 season.

CSK wants the old rule to be reinstated:

During the meeting with the BCCI, CSK requested that the old rule that would allow it to retain MS Dhoni as a non-cap player be introduced. The rule had been in place since the inaugural edition in 2008 till 2021 before being scrapped at the behest of the franchises.

The rule stated that if a player retired from international cricket for five years or more, he would be classified as a non-cap player. However, CSK’s proposal did not receive any backing from other franchises, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo.

Dhoni had retired from international cricket in 2020. In 2022, CSK had retained him for INR 12 crore. On the other hand, teams were allowed to retain an uncapped player for just INR 4 crore. If the IPL sets similar costs for uncapped players retained before the mega auction, CSK wants to retain Dhoni that way.

However, CSK’s hopes could be dashed by the lack of support from other franchises, who do not want long-retired international players to be given non-cap status.

Furthermore, IPL teams agreed that retired Indian players or players who have not played international cricket for 5 years should be allowed to reduce their base price to increase their chances of being picked.