Sunil Gavaskar Slams BCCI; Accuses Them of Tweaking Rules to Accommodate CSK Captain MS Dhoni in IPL 2025

IPL 2025: MS Dhoni has been in the spotlight ever since the season started and that is bound to happen given his stature. But once the tournament progressed, Dhoni started facing the heat for Chennai Super Kings poor run this season. Now that Chennai are knocked out of the playoff race, former India stalwart Sunil Gavaskar has openly accused the Board of Control of Cricket in India of tweaking rules to accommodate MS Dhoni. 

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Gavaskar reckoned young uncapped players who get retained should not be given a whopping sum of Rs 4 Cr. 

‘Indian cricket takes a bit of beating…'

"A whole lot of the players bought for huge amounts simply fade away as their hunger and drive are satiated. To the franchises, it perhaps doesn’t matter as they may feel it’s good riddance, but Indian cricket takes a bit of a beating at the loss of any player whether he has been successful or not. To accommodate Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who became an uncapped player before the auction last year, the limit was raised to ₹4 crore," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“In all these years, it is hard to recall an uncapped player bought for huge numbers who has justified his inclusion in the team. Maybe over the next couple of years, he may get a bit better with experience, but if he is playing in the same local league, then that chance of improvement doesn’t get much better,” he added.

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About The Retained Player Rule

The retained player rule that was in place since the inception of the cash-rich league, but was done away with in 2021 after the Indian board realised that not many franchises exercise it. But then, they reintroduced it in 2025 and that is exactly what has miffed Gavaskar.