Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels Chennai Super Kings should “release” Mahendra Singh Dhoni if a mega auction is held ahead of the next edition of the Indian Premier League.
Pointing out that retaining Dhoni for the next season would mean a Rs 15 crore loss for CSK, Chopra said in a video that the captain should be released into the auction pool and the team can choose him using the Right To Match card. This, he said, would help CSK build a great team while being financially prudent.
“I think CSK should release M.S. Dhoni going into the mega auction. If there is a mega auction then you will be with that player for three years. But will Dhoni stay with you for three years?” he asked in the video.
“I am not saying don’t keep Dhoni, he will play the next IPL, but if you keep him as a retained player but you will have to pay Rs 15 crore. If Dhoni does not stay with you for three years and he plays just the 2021 season, you will get the Rs 15 crore back for the 2022 edition, but how will you find a player worth that Rs 15 crore? That’s the advantage of a mega auction, you can create a big team if you have the money,” he said.
“If you release Dhoni for the mega auction, you can pick him with the Right To Match card and you can pick the right players by having the desired money in your kitty. You can pick Dhoni in the auction, from CSK point of view, if they release Dhoni and then pick him up in auction, it would be beneficial for them,” he added.
Chopra further said that CSK didn’t have a lot of players worth retaining, and the aging side needs a mega auction to make a great team from scratch.
“CSK needs a mega auction, the side does not have many players that can be retained. If you want to make a team from the scratch, then are you willing to spend big bucks on the likes of Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu? I don’t think that CSK will look at the likes of Raina and Harbhajan if they are making a team from scratch,” he said.
The three-time IPL champions struggled in the recently concluded IPL, finishing seventh in the standings with 12 points from 14 matches. It was the first time in all the editions that they have played since 2008 that the Chennai Super Kings failed to qualify for the play-offs.
