CSK want draft system in IPL 2018 as they look to retain the same team

Chennai Super Kings batsman M.S. Dhoni k : News Photo

What's the story?

With the Chennai Super Kings back in the Indian Premier League from next season, it will be interesting to see whether they can retain the same team or not.

The Director of CSK made his intentions clear by stating that they would like to keep the same core team which they had before they were suspended.

“Talks with BCCI about player retention is going on. We hope to have draft similar to the one in 2016. Since we are the highest-paid franchise among the two, we will get to pick first. So that is an advantage if it happens,” said George John, Director of CSK.

“Talks are going on with the core group that we had two years back. If we get them back, it will definitely have a continuity and that is what we always look to achieve as franchise,” John added.

In case you didn't know...

Both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two years back in 2015 due to illegal betting activities which took place during the IPL 2013 season. Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, who were closely associated with CSK and RR respectively for banned for life after being found guilty.

After serving their suspension, they will make a return to the tournament next year but will have to start from scratch and build their teams once again.

The details:

There is a lot of speculation going around whether the former captain and fan favourite MS Dhoni would return to CSK or not. He might have made his intentions clear by posing with a yellow jersey in a picture posted on Instagram but his future in the side will be decided with the auction which takes place next year.

The retention policy for the teams taking part in the tournament has not been decided and it is possible that each side would have a completely new set of players.

However, if the draft system does take place and if CSK do get the first pick, they have hinted at picking MS Dhoni back in the side.

What's next?

The date of the auction has not been announced yet but is rumoured to take place sometime in February 2018.

Author's take:

With Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals back in the IPL, the tournament would become extremely exciting as the old rivalries would return once again.

Dhoni has been associated with CSK ever since the inception of IPL and it would be hard to imagine him in any other team. Fans would love to see him don the yellow jersey again but they would have to keep their fingers crossed and wait until the auction to see if this happens or not.

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Edited by Rajdeep Puri