Chennai Super Kings Disclose MS Dhoni’s Potential Return On This Date
Published - 25 Feb 2025, 03:04 PM | Updated - 25 Feb 2025, 03:05 PM
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The upcoming 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) could be an emotional end for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who may see the end of the journey of their long-time successful former captain, MS Dhoni, at the end of the 18th edition of the tournament.
Chennai Super Kings didn’t qualify for the playoffs of the previous season in 2024 despite seven victories in their 14 group games at a net run rate of +0.392. Their defeat in the last group-stage clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by a huge margin at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium broke their dream.
Chennai Super Kings drops special video on MS Dhoni’s return
Ahead of the mega auction of the IPL 2025, the five-time champions decided to retain their five players from the previous season. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, for a price of INR 18 crore, was their first retained player, while Sri Lanka’s right-arm death overs specialist bowler, Matheesha Pathirana, was the second retention for INR 13 crore.
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The management decided to go with two all-rounders in the fourth and fifth positions. Shivam Dube, who displayed his incredible ability to smash the ball outside the park, was the third retained player for INR 12 crore.
There was no doubt that the Whistle Podu army kept the veteran left-arm spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the next three years, as the Saurashtra-born pocketed INR 18 crore. But the entire focus was on their ‘Lion’ of the ‘Abuden’ MS Dhoni, who hadn’t decided his future for a long time.
BCCI brought back the old rule of retaining a retired player (someone who has not featured in the Indian side in more than five years) in the uncapped category, and CSK took the advantage to hold Dhoni for INR 4 crore. The franchise has dropped a video on their social media platform, which reveals that their Thala Dhoni will soon join the side before the new edition of the event.
Chennai Super Kings to start IPL 2025 campaign against Mumbai Indians
The Chennai Super Kings will start the new season of the 20-over league on March 23 in an evening fixture, where they will host the Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Their next game will also be at home against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru before the first away contest against the Rajasthan Royals on March 30 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
The management was lucky to get back both the Blackcaps batters, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, cheaply, while Rahul Tripathi, who has an association with Stephen Fleming and Dhoni for the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), can replace Ajinkya Rahane in the middle order.
Ravichandran Ashwin will also return to his side and feature in his first game since taking international retirement. Sam Curran and Nathan Ellis will be valuable for the franchise, which generally looks to use the slower balls in the death overs, something that Dwayne Bravo used to do in the past.
🚨Yelloading… 💛🦁🔜#DencomingDay https://t.co/VCiR0Ofwg8 pic.twitter.com/2EsQzNv7FR
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) February 25, 2025
Chennai Super Kings shakes hands with Sridharan Sriram in this new role
Yesterday (February 24), the Chennai Super Kings hired the former Indian all-rounder, Sridharan Sriram, as the assistant bowling coach ahead of the new season. The veteran was part of Australia and Bangladesh in the past in the spin coaching department.
Sriram was also part of the Bengaluru and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchises in the past as the assistant coach. The former Tamil Nadu spinner will work with Ashwin, Jadeja, and Noor Ahmed as they focus on the spin mantra for the 2025 season.
