IPL’s comeback franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be retaining MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina for the upcoming season in 2018. However, the third player to be retained is yet to be finalized.

For all franchises, the deadline for submitting the list of retained players is January 4. IPL franchises can retain a maximum five players by virtue of a combination of player retention and right-to-match (RTM) cards (during the auction).

Talking about the same, a CSK official said, ”We are retaining Dhoni and Raina, and the third we are contemplating. That’s an obvious one. We will have him (Dhoni) back as captain. We don’t know by when we have to submit it (the list of retained players). Once the deadline is set, we will finalize the list. For Dhoni it would be like returning home, 100 per cent. That’s what he also said during the TNPL.”

Raina has been dropped from the national squad, but in IPL, he is no way less than a stalwart, with 4,540 runs in 161 games at an outstanding strike-rate of 139.09. He has been a vital cog in the CSK journey in being six-time finalists and two-time champions.

Back again, CSK can retain or exercise the RTM options from a pool of players “who played for them respectively in IPL 2015 and who were part of RPS (Rising Pune Supergiant) and GL (Gujarat Lions) squads in IPL 2017”.

Meanwhile, according to sources of the Indian Express, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper, Gautam Gambhir is yet to hear something from the franchise over his retention. Under Gambhir’s leadership, KKR became one of the most consistent teams in the IPL, winning the title twice. With two days left to submit the list, the KKR management will have to decide.