There has been a lot of discussion surrounding former India skipper MS Dhoni‘s future with the Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2025. According to the new IPL retention rules, CSK will be able to retain Dhoni for as low as Rs 4 crore as an ‘uncapped player’. However, nothing concrete has been confirmed either from the player’s or the franchise’s side. A report from Sports Tak claimed that Dhoni has not confirmed his availability till now and he is expected to meet CSK officials either on 29th or 30th October. October 31 is the official deadline for franchises to submit their retention list.

The report also claimed that Dhoni has told the CSK management that he will not be available for meetings till October 28 and the decision on his retention will be taken after the discussion.

With the mega auction for the IPL 2025 approaching, CSK CEO Viswanathan is hopeful that one of their most decorated players will confirm his participation before October 31 and return for another dance.

“We have still no confirmation from him, though we will like him to continue playing for us. Hope he will confirm before 31st [October],” Viswanathan told ESPNcricinfo.

October 31 is the date that has been set for all ten franchises to submit their list of retained players to the IPL ahead of the mega auction.

For the upcoming edition, CSK has the option to retain Dhoni as an uncapped player after a change in rules. IPL brought back the rule that was scrapped in 2021, according to which players could be considered uncapped even if they had retired from international cricket for five years.

If Dhoni confirms his availability, then it is highly likely that the 43-year-old will be retained by CSK as an uncapped player. CSK will need to shell out just Rs 4 crore from their purse of Rs 120 crore. All IPL franchises are allowed to retain up to six players before the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Dhoni’s last appearance in India colours was in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, when the Men in Blue suffered a heartbreak.

After his retirement in 2020, Dhoni didn’t feature in any other tournament apart from the IPL. In the 2024 season, Dhoni garnered 161 runs at a strike rate of 220 as he played the role of a finisher for the five-time champions.

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) are set to expand the Indian core in their coaching staff by roping in former India wicket-keeper batter Parthiv Patel as their batting coach for IPL 2025. Parthiv is set to replace South Africa’s Gary Kirsten in that role, after the latter became Pakistan’s head coach, as per a report by Times of India. Parthiv is likely to feel at home at GT, having been born in Gujarat as well as having played over 15 years for the state in domestic cricket.

Prior to this, Parthiv Patel had been involved as a talent scout for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI). After his retirement in 2020, Parthiv had been involved in the role, alongside duties as a cricket commentator and pundit.

Parthiv will join Ashish Nehra in Gujarat Titans’ coaching staff. As head coach of the franchise, Nehra led GT to two IPL finals in its first two seasons, winning the title in its first season 2022. Former English cricketer Vikram Solanki will continue to be the Director of Cricket for Gujarat Titans, the report further added.

Parthiv Patel has close to 3,000 IPL runs over 139 games for several franchises. He is also a three-time IPL winner as a player, having won the title as part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2010, and as part of MI in 2015 and 2017. He had also played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK), Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

During his career, Parthiv represented India in 25 Test matches and 38 ODIs.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans are expected to retain Shubman Gill as their captain ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, with the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, B Sai Sudharshan and Mohit Sharma also touted as potential fellow retentions.

Punjab Kings have decided to retain majority of their support staff after the arrival of new head coach Ricky Ponting with fast bowling coach James Hopes likely to be the sole addition for IPL 2025. Ponting, who was appointed head coach last month, had used the services of fellow Aussie James Hopes when he was head coach at Delhi Capitals. Spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi, batting and fielding coach Brad Haddin and Trevor Gonsalves, who were all part of Trevor Bayliss’ team, have been retained for the upcoming season.

Bayliss was the head coach last year and Sanjay Bangar the head of cricket development with both now out of the coaching setup.

“Brad Haddin and Sunil have been retained. James Hopes is likely to be the fast bowling coach,” an IPL source told PTI.

Ponting has been appointed on a four-year contract in the hope of changing the team’s fortunes. Punjab have never won the IPL and their sole final appearance came way back in 2014.

They have failed to finish even in the top five in the last seven editions and ended ninth out of 10 teams earlier this year.

Ponting yet to decide on player retention

The player retention deadline is October 31 but the Australian great is yet to decide on the number of players to retain ahead of the mega auction.

The franchise is expected to retain lead pacer Arshdeep Singh who has been with them for six seasons. In the uncapped category, they could retain Shashank Singh who provided the silver lining to their otherwise ordinary campaign last year.

“Ricky and his team will decide on the player retention soon,” added the source.

Punjab, who were led by Shikhar Dhawan for the past two season, will be aiming to find their new captain probably at the auction table.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already announced the retention rules for the franchises. The final date for the sides to submit their picks is October 31. Each franchise could retain a maximum of six players with the Right-To-Match (RTM) option included in it. However, there has been a change in the traditional RTM process about which the franchises have reportedly made an official complaint to the BCCI. The franchises claimed that the RTM rule change would fail to serve the purpose for which it was initially introduced.

As per the old method of RTM, an original team of a player could retain him using RTM card by matching the last bid put on the player at the auction. This used to help the original team retain the player at auction that too at his right market value. However the new changes give the team with last bid a chance to increase the amount to an arbitrary value, in case the original team wants to use RTM option.

If Team 1 holds the RTM for Player X and Team 2 has placed the highest bid of Rs. 6 Cr, then Team 1 will be first asked if they will exercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team 2 will have the chance to increase their bid. If Team 2 raises their bid to Rs. 9 Cr, then Team 1 can use the RTM and acquire Player X for Rs. 9 Cr. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at Rs. 6 Cr, Team 1 can use the RTM and get Player X for Rs. 6 Cr.

“The franchises argue that the essence of the RTM is to establish a player’s market value, and this purpose is not served when a franchise is required to match an arbitrarily raised bid. As clarified by the BCCI, the increase can be any amount, which diminishes the value of the incremental bid at that stage,” said Cricbuzz in a report.

The IPL Auction 2025 is set to take place in November this year. All the 10 franchises has been given the deadline of October 31 to finalise their list of retained players. Each side has got a maximum of 6 retentions, including Right To Match (RTM) options. As the teams have begun the preparations to list their picks, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has a piece of advice for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He has asked the side to pick Rohit Sharma as captain if the option is available.

Notably, Rohit, who led Mumbai Indians to a record five titles in IPL, was replaced by Hardik Pandya as captain in the team last year. The move met with a lot of criticism with some reports even suggesting that Rohit might not be retained by the MI franchise ahead of IPL Auction 2025.

If Rohit actually goes to the auction pool and RCB manage to pick and name him captain, he could be seen leading Virat Kohli. This is because RCB are expected to retain Kohli — an impacful player and the leading run-scorer in IPL history.

“Players mei 19-20 hota hai, mai guarantee bol raha hoon players mei 19-20 hota hai. Ye banda 18 ko 20 kar deta hai. 18 wale player ko 20 kar deta hai. Gale mei haath daal ke kaam nikalna jaanta hai. Tactical moves jaanta hai, kisko kaha fit karna hai 11 mein, vo role badhiya batata hai. Mera manna hai agar mauka miley RCB ko toh bhai le lo Rohit Sharma ko as a captain (The names of all these players-there are 19-20 players, I am telling you for sure. There are 19-20 players; this guy can make 18-20. He can make 18-20; he knows how to put his hand around the neck and make a move. He knows the tactical moves and where to fit in the 11. He plays that role well, so I believe if the RCB gets a chance, then take Rohit Sharma as a captain),” said Kaif in a video getting viral on social media.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India released the IPL auction rules on Sunday. Each franchise can retain upto 6 players with Right To Match (RTM) option included in it. As the teams have started finalizing their picks ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, former India pacer RP Singh has passed a huge verdict on franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He said that the side will only retain Virat Kohli and release everyone else, relying on the RTM. Notably, Kohli is playing for RCB since the inaugural season of IPL.

Kohli is the highest run-getter in IPL history with 8004 to his credit from 252 matches. He has scored 8 centuries, the most by any player in the tournament, and 55 half-centuries.

“I feel they don’t have any problem. They will just retain Virat Kohli, release everyone else, and use the RTM,” RP Singh said during a discussion on Colors Cineplex.

Given a total of 6 retentions, including RTM, are allowed, the IPL franchise can choose their combination for it. Howver, the 6 retentions/RTM’s can have a maximum of 5 capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players, informed BCCI in its release.

“If we see the value taking Rajat Patidar as an example, will we get him for more or less than 11 crores at the auction? I feel you will get Rajat Patidar for fewer. So you get him back at the auction. Even if he reaches close to 11 crores, you have the RTM which you can use there,” he said.

“Siraj, performance-wise, you will have to again judge whether you will get him close to 11 crores. I don’t think Siraj will reach close to 14 crores. They will always have the option that if he reaches there, you can use the RTM,” he added.