The much-awaited IPL mega auction, which has been months in the making, is finally nearing an end as all franchises are set to unveil their retention lists, and the one that is more of a big deal is five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who have witnessed many heats around the future of former India captain MS Dhoni, who has been the cornerstone for CSK throughout.

Although there were speculations that IPL 2024 might be his last season, news lately has it that Dhoni can still be retained by CSK before the auction. But that is not confirmed yet. According to a recent interview with CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, it has come out that the legendary captain Dhoni still hasn’t finalized it.

“We also want Dhoni to play in the CSK team, but he hasn’t confirmed it to us yet. Dhoni said, ‘I will tell you before October 31.’ We hope that he will play,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told Sports Vikatan.

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A new rule adopted by the BCCI that can come to Dhoni’s rescue allows players to be retained: it gives flexibility to the franchisees to retain former Indian internationals at an uncapped base price of INR 4 crore provided they haven’t played international cricket in the last five years. Dhoni should be able to fit into this criterion since his last international outing was in 2019.

The franchises need to submit their retention lists before the date approaching on October 31. The IPL Mega Auction will most probably take place in the last week of November 2024, and according to reports, Riyadh is likely to be the venue for the marquee event.

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It’s a time when the auction looms, and all eyes will be on whether the iconic captain will be back to do justice once more to the IPL field. All hope is pinned on Dhoni to inspire CSK in the same manner.