Five-time winners of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings announced their list of retained players for the upcoming season (IPL 2025) a few days ago.

Notably, after much anticipation, former franchise captain and icon MS Dhoni confirmed his availability for IPL 2025 and CSK retained him for INR 4 crore under the unlimited player quota.

Now, ahead of the next edition, former Australian star and new Punjab Kings (PBKS) coach Ricky Ponting has shed light on the possible role of MS Dhoni.

Dhoni, who is in the twilight of his career, improvised his role last season when he came out to bat in the death overs and took the bowlers to the cleaners. In 14 matches, Dhoni scored 161 runs at an incredible strike rate of 220.55. While Dhoni’s batting position has dropped down the order, his impact is the same.

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Ricky Ponting outlines MS Dhoni’s role for CSK in IPL 2025

Along the same lines, Ponting highlighted in his speech in ICC Review:

“Two seasons ago he probably had his worst season but last year again he bounced back and really impacted some games like the MS Dhoni of old,” Ponting said.

“I think it will be exactly the same now… they may not get him through the whole season. “They might think about keeping him out for a game and giving him a rest here and there to make sure they get the best out of him.”

Talking about CSK’s retentions, apart from Dhoni, the Chennai-based team decided to retain four more players. Their top retainers were all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and new skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad with INR 18 crore. Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana were the other two players who made the cut with INR 12 crore and INR 13 crore respectively.

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