CSK keen on bringing back core team, reveals their top player for next season

Chennai Super Kings’s two-year suspension which was imposed by Supreme Court following the betting scandal ended on Thursday thus signifying that the two-time champions are back in the fold. With the ban ending, the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), the company that runs the team, is not wasting any time in charting out the future course of action.

The first thing on the agenda is getting Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the CSK captain for eight seasons, back in the team. CSK is hoping they can retain some of their players from before the ban. However, the BCCI is yet to decide the retention policy for the next season.

“If we are given an option of retaining a player, it will definitely be Dhoni,” K George John, one of the directors of CSKCL, told the Times of India. “We haven’t yet discussed with Dhoni as his contract with Pune Supergiant ends later this year. However, we will speak to him in the future,” he said.

CSK planning to rope in the same support staff it had in 2015

In fact, CSK are planning to get the same support staff they had in 2015 onboard for the upcoming season as well. “For us, loyalty is very important. That’s been our strength over the years. Though we haven’t yet taken a final decision on the support staff, we are definitely thinking of retaining the old support staff,” John added.

Although the franchise was absent for the last two years, John claimed that the brand itself hadn’t taken a hit. He said, “In fact, we have got a lot of inquiries from various sponsors. We have had tremendous support from the sponsors and the fans have been phenomenal in supporting us.”

“We look up to this TNPL period for conducting some interaction sessions. For example, if Hayden is here then we can plan a CSK get-together. We are still figuring out other options,” he added.