Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back where he belongs, Chennai Super Kings. The skipper got retained in the IPL 2018 retention. Dhoni is currently looking to rebuild his team from the scratch. They have already retained two top Indian players, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja. Though it was a tough choice for him as Ravichandran Ashwin, Brendon McCullum, Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo were among the top performers over the years for the franchise.
In an interview with PTI, Dhoni revealed how he was approached by teams before the retention. He said,
A lot of people approached me, I can tell you that. But, you know, I can’t think (of) not coming back to CSK. And as I said, it is because of everything – what we been through, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management has been, how the players have been, how the fans have been. I always keep saying, you know, it is like a second home to me. The fans have over here have literally adopted me, they accept me as their own. There can’t be a bigger compliment than that. This is a special place and that thought of being with any other franchise was never a question. So that was a very easy answer for me.
The two-time IPL winner revealed his plans for the upcoming auctions as well. He said,
I want local players in the Chennai Super Kings. Being a local lad, will go for him during auctions and try to get him. We also have our former players Brendon McCullum, Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo. We have two RTMs. But we have to know when and where to use them. With Ashwin we cannot use the RTM as we have already got three Indian players retained. We have to buy him in the auction. He will come first in the auction. But as I said, we will have to wait and watch. We will try to get him.
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The auctions are scheduled to take place in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28th. They have a total of INR 47 crore left in their purse ahead of the auction. They cannot retain an Indian player through Right to match (RTM) card. It will be interesting to see the two overseas players they retain through RTM.
