"To accommodate MS Dhoni, the limit was raised to Rs 4 crore": Former India captain calls for change in key rule amid IPL 2025

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has called for a reduction in the money given to an uncapped player in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 75-year-old felt that the limit for an uncapped player was raised to ₹4 crore to accommodate current Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni.

Gavaskar felt that players who were bought for large sums of money at the auction have tended to fade away. He added that Indian cricket was the loser, in such cases.

"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 Rs 4 crore," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar felt that it was tough to recall an uncapped Indian player who had excelled in the IPL after he was bought for a large sum at the auction. He felt that when a player was released and bought for a lower sum of money at the mini auction, he tended to perform better.

"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."

"What does happen is that if in the next auction his price comes down, then the pressure of expectations also comes down and the player plays a lot better," he wrote.

What is the IPL's uncapped player rule and how CSK and MS Dhoni benefitted out of it?

Ahead of the mega auctions in November 2024, the BCCI introduced a new rule to retain players in the uncapped category. As per the new rule, any player would be considered uncapped if he had not played an international match or held a BCCI contract within the last five years.

The new rule meant that MS Dhoni, who had played his last international match for India in July 2019, was eligible to be retained as an uncapped player by CSK for ₹4 crore.

Some of the other players who had fallen under the uncapped player category included Sandeep Sharma (last played for India in July 2015) and Mohit Sharma (last played for India in October 2015), among others.