The 5+1 retention policy is going to put things up for many franchises, as it provides teams with the opportunity to retain big players. With the retention policy now announced, many eyes are on MS Dhoni, will he be part of Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming IPL or not? If yes, how will that happen?
We have seen several changes in the retention policy, with one major rule being reintroduced, the uncapped player rule. It states that any international player who hasn’t played an international match and is not part of a central contract for the past five years can be classified as uncapped.
MS Dhoni, who played his last international game in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, could potentially enter CSK via the uncapped route. If this comes true, how much will he get? Will he gets a big amount, or will there be changes? What can we expect this time?
MS Dhoni IPL salary in 2025
Before discussing how much Dhoni will earn, we need to understand how the retention slab is structured. According to the rules, teams can retain five players first. The first and most prioritized player must be retained for Rs. 18 crore, followed by the second player for Rs 14 crore, and the third for Rs 11 crore. The cost of retaining additional players can go up to Rs 18 crore, with the fifth player costing Rs 14 crore.
However, if a team retains five capped players, they also need to have one uncapped player, which is valued at Rs 4 crore.
Speculation hints that Chennai Super Kings will likely prioritize retaining Ruturaj Gaikwad, followed by Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, and Matheesha Pathirana.
For the uncapped player, they could choose MS Dhoni, although nothing is fully confirmed yet. As it also depends on Dhoni’s decision about whether he wants to play next season or not. If he does play, he could get into the team as an uncapped player, which would mean he might earn Rs 4 crore for IPL 2025. This would result in a 66.67% reduction in his IPL salary from Rs 12 crore.
MS Dhoni IPL stats
| Year | Mat | No | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | CT | ST |
| Career | 264 | 95 | 5243 | 84* | 39.13 | 137.54 | 0 | 24 | 152 | 42 |
