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There has been a lot of talk about the possible retention rules ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Media reports claimed that the franchises have not agreed on a number as of yet and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not announced anything officially either. However, according to Cricbuzz, Chennai Super Kings will retain Dhoni regardless of how many retentions they get ahead of the new season. There have been reports that BCCI is looking to introduce a rule that can put Dhoni in the “uncapped” category. However, the report claimed that the five-time IPL winners are willing to retain the services of the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman regardless of any rule changes.
Dhoni was picked in the first IPL auction by CSK and the former India captain has been retained by the franchise on all occasions. Under his leadership, CSK won the IPL title five times. However, he decided to step down from the captaincy in 2024 and was replaced by young batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Meanwhile, Australian great Ricky Ponting has hailed former captain Virat Kohli's “huge role” in revolutionising Test cricket in India and said the country's batsmen are no longer afraid of the big stage, evidence of which is their success in challenging conditions overseas.
Ponting also praised the contributions of former head coach Rahul Dravid, who stepped down from the role after guiding India to the T20 World Cup title triumph in June.
“If you go back to Kohli's early days as captain, he played a big role in changing the course of cricket and (Rahul) Dravid has continued to do the same over the last four years. The influence of someone like him (Kohli) on a team would be great and they have star players,” Ponting told Sky Sports.
Under Kohli's captaincy, India became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia, besides recording some memorable victories elsewhere.
With his aggressive captaincy, Kohli made everyone believe that the Indian team can win abroad too, and his confidence rubbed off on the team even when he was not around.
During the last Test series in Australia in 2020-21, Kohli left for India after the first match due to the birth of his daughter Vamika. But India, under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, battled through injuries and the absence of key players to record a historic 2-1 series win.
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