Hyderabad: Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared his bold opinion on former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's participation in the upcoming mega player auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on his official youtube channel. The IPL 2025 mega auction is expected to be held in December, however, the official date is yet to be announced.
The 43-year-old had announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020. His last international match for India was the semi-final clash against New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup in England. However, he has continued to play in the IPL and there is still uncertainty over his future in the cash-rich league.
The five-time IPL trophy-winning captain MS Dhoni had stepped down from the CSK captaincy ahead of the IPL 2024 and played under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Amidst the talks of mega auction rules, CSK would want to retain MS Dhoni as a player, but all the retained players are usually high. Hence, according to the reports circulating in the media, the franchise has asked for a reintroduction of a now-scrapped rule as they would want to exclude a player who has won five titles for them.
Earlier in the IPL, an international player after five years of retirement was named in the 'uncapped' player category during the auction, but this rule was eradicated in the 2021 mega auction.
Amid all these, former CSK player Ravichandran Ashwin has asserted that will Dhoni play as an uncapped player is the big question, but the point is correct as he hasn't played international cricket in recent times.
"Will Dhoni play as an uncapped player? That's a big question mark. The point is correct. He hasn't played international cricket for many years. He has retired. So, he is an uncapped player. He is not a capped player," Ravichandran Ashwin said on his official YouTube channel.
"Can a player like Dhoni play as an uncapped player? That is another conversation. Obviously, if someone talks about Dhoni, everyone will talk about it," he added.
Dhoni had a brilliant IPL 2024 with the bat, having scored 161 runs off just 73 balls at an average of 53.67 and an impressive strike rate of 220.55.
The record five-time champion CSK finished fifth in the points table after losing their final league stage game against Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). CSK had the same points as RCB, but RCB's net run rate was better, which helped them qualify for the next stage.
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