No MS Dhoni! Gautam Gambhir picks his four retentions for Chennai Super Kings

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir recently named four players Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should retain ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. November 30 (Tuesday) is the deadline for the existing eight franchises to submit their final list of retained players. A team can retain a maximum of only four players, with not more than three Indians or two overseas players as part of the final retained list.

Gambhir believes defending champions Chennai Super Kings should not retain captain MS Dhoni ahead of IPL 2022. He picked Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran as his for retentions for CSK while snubbing the likes of Dhoni and Moeen Ali. Dhoni is likely to be retained by CSK, as per multiple reports, having already confirmed that he will be playing the final T20 match of his career in Chennai.

Gambhir revealed his four picks four CSK while speaking on Star Sports. As per a report in ESPN Cricinfo, Dhoni, Jadeja, Gaikwad and Moeen are set to be the four players to be retained by CSK ahead of the much-anticipated mega auction which is all set to feature a host of superstars this time around.

Despite being in the final lap of his career and there being uncertainty over his long-term future in the IPL, CSK have reposed their faith in skipper Dhoni. The former India captain had retired from international cricket in 2019 but has continued to lead CSK in the IPL.

He led the Yellow Army to their fourth IPL title triumph in IPL 2021 as CSK completed an incredible comeback after having failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2020. It remains to be seen who will be the final four retentions for CSK ahead of the mega auction this time around.

Also Read: Dhoni to Rohit: Complete list of reported retentions for all 8 franchises ahead of IPL mega auction

A franchise retaining four players will have to shell out Rs 42 crore (INR 420 million) from their total budget of Rs 90 crore (INR 900 million). There will be no Right To Match (RTM) option for the franchises in the mega auction this year which means they will have to be very wise in selecting their retentions.