October 31 is the deadline set for all the teams to announce their list of retained players ahead of the mega auction. However, CSK’s recent social media post with emojis has left the fans speculating. Will MS Dhoni play or not? Who else will get retained for IPL 2025?
The highly anticipated IPL retention is upon us. All 10 teams are set to announce their list of retained players ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on October 31. Several reports regarding a few teams are already doing the rounds. However, five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) seem to have revealed their retained players with their latest social media post fuelling massive speculation among the fans.
On Tuesday (October 29) evening, CSK posted a set of emojis that had a helicopter, a rocket and swords among many others asking the fans to guess their retentions. With helicopter and sword, it is clear that MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja are being retained while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad is also expected to stay with the franchise. However, the fans were left guessing for the other players who could stay with the men in yellow.
MS Dhoni is set to be retained as an uncapped player having last played for India in 2019. He is set to enjoy the last few years of cricket left in him and has the full support of CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan. Dhoni recalled how he couldn’t enjoy cricket much as a profession during his career with a lot at stake. He is willing to play freely now and enjoy playing in IPL for two and a half months while spending time with family for the rest of the year.
“I just want to enjoy whatever last few years of cricket I am able to play. When you play cricket as a profession, it’s hard to enjoy it just like a game. That’s my aim now. The emotions and commitments are intense, but I want to find joy in the game for the next few years. I need to stay fit for nine months to play those two and a half months of IPL, so I have to plan and still chill a bit,” Dhoni said in an event recently