Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik had openly said that IPL reintroduced the rule of a capped Indian player becoming uncapped (if he hasn’t played international cricket for five years) only for MS Dhoni. Karthik, however, shared that he is completely in favour of the move since it will only benefit the tournament as well.

While announcing the player regulations for 2025-2027 on Saturday, September 28, the BCCI also confirmed that ‘a capped Indian player will
become uncapped, if the player has in the last five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant Season is held’ as well. However, this rule was also introduced during the inaugural IPL season in 2008 but it was scrapped in 2021 as well.

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Asked about this, Karthik told Cricbuzz during an interaction: “Everybody talks about it. This rule is made for one man and I am for it through and through. This man has been such a major part of what this IPL has been about. If everybody is in a happy place – be it BCCI, be it any of the teams, be it how the league has performed over the years and how it has kept players so happy over the last 15-18 years, this man has played a major role.”

“You can ask any TV broadcaster and you will get the answer that when this man steps on the field, the ratings go up. This is a fact. If you are going to do something that is going to help the league, why not? You don’t want to bend and break the rules, but if it’s a fair one, where all teams have been informed and they all feel it’s fair, let’s go ahead. Why not? He is a special cricketer,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.

However, MS Dhoni retired from international cricket in August 2020, but last played a match for India in July 2019 when they faced New Zealand in the ODI World Cup semifinal in Manchester as well.