Former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja feels Chennai Super Kings (CSK) icon MS Dhoni has no desire to be retained as the top pick ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. The IPL governing last week announced the player retention rules ahead of the next mega auction. As per the new guidelines, all 10 teams can retain up to six players, including one uncapped player at least. This has opened the doors for five-time winners CSK to retain Dhoni as an uncapped player in their squad.
While the franchise and the player have remained tight-lipped over the player’s future in the IPL, Jadeja feels CSK shouldn’t have any issues in retaining Dhoni as he has done a lot for the franchise.
“MS Dhoni for sure. There’s no doubt about that, especially because he’s now an uncapped player. He’s done a lot for the team and has no desire to be treated as the No. 1 player on the squad. His value is unquestioned. Ruturaj Gaikwad is the captain, and he’s had a good year, so you’ll hope to retain him as well. Ravindra Jadeja can’t be left out either, so these three, I think, are perfect for them,” Jadeja said on Jio Cinema.
During the same discussion, former India batter Aakash Chopra suggested that retaining captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja should be CSK’s priority.
“I don’t think they’ll (CSK) retain five players. They might go for 3-4. I see two players worth 18 crore in Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja. If you want to keep them, you have to match that price. Other than that, they have MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, and Matheesha Pathirana. I think they’ll keep Dube and use the RTM card for Deepak Chahar, maybe, depending on his fitness. The price for these players is really high, so the RTM card could be useful to get players for cheaper. If Dube is sold in the auction, he might fetch over 10 or 11 crore,” he added.
