MS Dhoni might himself ask why CSK are retaining him because he may not stay for three years: Aakash Chopra

It is almost certain that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be hosting a mega-auction ahead of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). BCCI is planning to expand the league by adding two new franchises, thus, mega-auctions seem inevitable. 

Though it is still to be known how many players the team will be able to retain for IPL 2022, the cricket analysts and fans have already started their calculations regarding the players the franchises should retain for the upcoming season. Former Indian cricketer and renowned commentator Aakash Chopra carried out an analysis of three-time champion Chennai Super Kings as he revealed the names of the players the team should retain.  

Chopra said that there is no doubt that Super Kings will be retaining their skipper MS Dhoni. However, he didn’t seem much happy with the same and took a jibe saying that Dhoni will himself be questioning the authorities regarding why they are retaining him. Aakash believes that there is no guarantee of MS playing the upcoming three seasons of IPL. Also, the team has to pay a whopping INR 15 crore to Dhoni, which is not worth considering his performance. 

“Chennai Super Kings will have MS Dhoni at the first number of course and they will do that as well. But if you ask Dhoni, he might himself say why they are retaining him because he may not be there for three years and why they want to block so much money on him. But then, that’s how it is going to be. CSK and MS Dhoni are pretty much one and the same thing,” Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

If there are no retentions, CSK will say they are absolutely fine: Aakash Chopra

In the mega-auction hosted in 2018, all the eight IPL franchises were allowed to retain three players and use two Right to Match (RTM) cards to attain the services of five cricketers from their original squad. However, it is speculated that for the 2022 edition, the teams might be allowed to keep only three players as two new franchises will also be added. 

Meanwhile, Chopra believes that this won’t be a problem for CSK as even if there are no retentions they will be happy to build a new team. “If there is a new rule that there are no retentions, CSK will say they are absolutely fine, and that they will start from scratch because they don’t have players to block 15-17 crores,” said Chopra.