NEW DELHI: MS Dhoni relinquished Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) captaincy ahead of the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), handing the leadership duties to Ruturaj Gaikwad; and as 'Thala' Dhoni gears up for another appearance in the league, his former India and CSK teammate Suresh Raina believes the five-time champions need him because his successor is still learning the art of captaincy.
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Dhoni was retained as an 'uncapped' player by CSK for INR 4 crore. As per the rule re-introduced in the IPL Player Regulations, any player who has not played international cricket for five years or hasn't had a central contract for the same period is considered as uncapped.
"CSK needs him," said Raina during a conversation with Timesofindia.com. "Ruturaj is still a new captain, just one edition has gone by (with him as the skipper). So I personally also believe he (Dhoni) should play."
Raina said the 43-year-old India legend has the fitness to enjoy for maybe two more years and is well aware of not putting extra pressure on his body, which is possibly the reason why he batted the entire last season lower down the order.
"He has the fitness, has been retained, so he wants to enjoy it for a couple of years," Raina, who retired from all forms of cricket on the same day as Dhoni's international retirement (15th August 2020), said. "He bats only during the last 3-4 overs, and is wicket-keeping well."
CSK have retained five players -- Gaikwad (Rs 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 13 crore), Shivam Dube (Rs 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs 18 crore) and Dhoni (Rs 4 crore). They have a maximum of 20 slots (7 overseas) left to be filled at the upcoming IPL auction on November 24-25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
After spending a total of Rs 65 crore on five retentions, CSK have Rs 55 crore left in their purse to complete the squad.
