Reports: CSK's request to allow MS Dhoni to mentor CSA league team has been denied by the BCCI

Four-time IPL winners and one of the most successful sides in the history of the competition Chennai Super Kings were hoping to appoint MS Dhoni as a mentor for their CSA T20 franchise. However, they were dealt a severe blow when BCCI reverberated their stance on prohibiting Indian players’ association with foreign leagues.

Notably, all the teams in the upcoming CSA T20 league have been bagged up by IPL franchises, with CSK being one of the owners. CSK were hoping to appoint their IPL skipper as the mentor for the CSA outfit. But a BCCI official stopped them in their tracks stating that the player in question will have to cut off all ties with the Indian board before associating with any other foreign league.

“It’s clear that no Indian player including domestic players can take part in any other league until he is retired from all forms of the game. If any player wants to take part in these upcoming leagues he can only do so when he cuts off all ties with the BCCI,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.

Although Dhoni has retired from international cricket, the BCCI official stated that the former Indian skipper will have to cut his ties with IPL and will not be allowed to play in the competition once he decides to mentor CSK’s CSA team. “For Dhoni to mentor CSK’s team in CSA T20 League, he needs to retire from IPL as well. Then he can’t play IPL for CSK. He has to retire here first,” he added.

Adam Gilchrist had also questioned BCCI’s rigid stance on India players’ participation in foreign leagues

Earlier in 2019, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik issued a formal apology to the BCCI after he was invited to watch a Caribbean Premier League match by Trinbago Knight Riders’ dugout by the then KKR head coach Brendon McCullum.

Former Australian cricketer and World Cup winner Adam Gilchrist had also raised questions on the BCCI’s bewildering stance of not allowing any Indian players to ply their trade in BBL or any other T20 league. He questioned the logic behind the board’s move.

“I’m not criticizing the IPL, but why won’t Indian players come and play in the Big Bash league? I’ve never had an open and honest answer. Why are some leagues accessing every player in the world? No Indian player plays in any other T20 league,” he had said.