'MS Dhoni will be retained': Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan about IPL 2021

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) owner has said that MS Dhoni will be leading the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in 2021.

The statement comes after the former skipper's name was missing from the BCCI's central contract list.

CSK owner N Srinivasan in an event said, “Dhoni will play this year, next year he will go to the Auction and we will retain him". Dhoni has been a part of CSK since its inception and apart from the two seasons when the franchise was suspended.

“MS Dhoni will play this year. And next year he will be in the auction and he will be retained.”

- N Srinivasan on @msdhoni #WhistlePodu #Yellove @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/8AWPhzUJCh

— Whistle Podu Army  - CSK Fan Club (@CSKFansOfficial) January 18, 2020

About his emission from the contract list, BCCI had clarified that Dhoni was informed about the same. The BCCI source had also told PTI that the 38-year-old was not part of the list as he had not played any international cricket for over six months now.

If the former skipper makes it to the T20 squad sometime this year, he might be re-inducted on a pro-rata basis.

“Let me clarify that one of the top-most BCCI office-bearers spoke to MS and told him about how they are going about in the central contracts. He was clearly told that since he hasn’t played any game in the said period (September 2019 to date), he cannot be included for the time being,” the official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

However, the official added that if Dhoni makes it to the World T20 team in Australia or even before that, he can be included on a pro-rata basis.

“There will be an Asia Cup T20 (likely to be shifted from Pakistan) and if Dhoni plays a certain number of matches, he will be automatically included. It’s not like he has been dumped for good. It’s just that he doesn’t qualify because he has not played,” the official said.