IPL 2018: Chennai Super Kings Retain MS Dhoni And Suresh Raina

Two-time Indian Premier League champions Chennai Super Kings are retaining their legendary duo Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina for the upcoming eleventh season of the league. However, the franchise, which is returning to the league following a two-year gap is still undecided on whom to retain as the third player.

The IPL governing council has asked all the franchises to submit the list of their retained players by January 4. With just a couple of days left before the deadline expires, the teams seem to have made up their minds about the kind of players they would like to retain and the ones they would buy back with Right To Match (RTM) cards. According to the retention policy, the franchises can retain a maximum of five players by virtue of a combination of player retention and right-to-match (RTM) cards (during the auction).

“We are retaining Dhoni and Raina, and the third we are contemplating,” a CSK official told The Indian Express.

The franchise director George John had already made it clear that Dhoni was an obvious choice.

“That’s an obvious one. We will have him (Dhoni) back as captain. We don’t know when we have to submit it (the list of retained players). Once the deadline is set, we will finalise the list. For Dhoni, it would be like returning home, 100 percent. That’s what he also said during the TNPL,” John had said.

Both Dhoni and Raina were with the franchise since the inaugural season in 2008 before the Chennai-based outfit along with Rajasthan Royals was suspended for a couple of years in 2015 on corruption charges. Dhoni had led the side in all the seasons while Raina was one of the side’s standout performers as the franchise made it to a record six IPL finals and won two titles in addition to winning the now-scrapped Champions League T20.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited IPL auction will take place in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.

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