MS Dhoni may tell CSK not to retain him; Jadeja could captain Ahmedabad: Chopra on IPL'22

Amidst reports suggesting IPL 2021's second-leg will resume either on September 19 or 20 and the final will be held on October 10, cricketer-turned commentator Aakash Chopra has already started his prediction for the mega-auction which will be organised before the IPL 2022 starts. In his earlier video, Aakash Chopra had suggested to the BCCI and IPL Governing Council that teams should only be allowed 2 retentions and 1 RTM card to make it fair for the 2 upcoming teams. Now, Chopra has predicted the names of players who will be retained by the franchises to play the IPL 2022. 

Various reports suggest that the BCCI is considering the inclusion of two new franchises for the IPL 2022. In order to do so, a mega auction will also be organised in which every player will be available to be bought by any of the franchises. While speaking on the potential IPL 2022 mega auction, Aakash Chopra predicted that the Chennai Super Kings will retain skipper MS Dhoni and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Notably, mega-auction takes place every three years in IPL. It was last organised in 2018. 

'MS Dhoni might say himself not to retain him'- Aakash Chopra

Guesstimating the list of players who might be retained, Aakash Chopra said that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be retaining skipper MS Dhoni at first. However, the commentator also said that MS Dhoni might himself say not to retain him to the CSK franchise. "Chennai Super Kings will have MS Dhoni at the first number of course and they will do that as well. But if you ask Dhoni, he might himself say why they are retaining him because he may not be there for three years and why they want to block so much money on him. But then, that's how it is going to be. CSK and MS Dhoni are pretty much one and the same thing," said Aakash Chopra on his show Cricket Aakash, on his YouTube channel. 

MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020. The only competitive cricket that 39-year-old veteran has played after the 2019 World Cup has been the IPL. 

'Ravindra Jadeja will be the second player to be retained': Aakash Chopra

Predicting the name of the second player who will be retained by CSK, Aakash Chopra said, "The second player who will be retained is Ravindra Jadeja. If Ravindra Jadeja does not want to get retained and wants to captain Ahmedabad or another team then that is something else. But if you will ask CSK they will say Ravindra Jadeja. The former Indian opener also stated that CSK can use their RTM card for medium pacer Deepak Chahar, if they get an opportunity.

It is important to note that the BCCI are yet to confirm the number of players that a franchise would be allowed to retain ahead of next year’s mega auction. In the previous mega auction which held in 2018, franchises were allowed to retain three cricketers and use two Right to Match (RTM) cards to attain the services of 5 cricketers from their original squad. However, in IPL 2022, however, two new franchises are set to join the league, taking the number of teams to 10. Therefore-, it is likely that franchises might not be allowed to retain/RTM more than three players.

(Image Credits: IPLT20.COM)