City gears up to welcome back MS Dhoni in IPL

George John, one of the directors of Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, said he was delighted with the turn of events. “We submitted a proposal to the IPL GC that we wanted a minimum of four retention options. We are happy that they allowed us to retain five instead. It enables us to bring back the core of the side which last played in 2015. We have not been informed about the cut-off date to reveal which three players we want to retain pre-auction. We will discuss among our panel before finalising how to go about it,” said a clearly overjoyed John.

Another long-standing associate of CSK and former secretary of TNCA, Kasi Viswanathan, said this decision will go a long way in enhancing the brand value of the franchise. He added, “MS Dhoni is synonymous with the cricketing fabric in Chennai. It’s a no-brainer that CSK will grab the opportunity to welcome back its most iconic player.” 

‘MSD Superfan’ Saravanan, a readily recognisable face among the yellow brigade, couldn’t hide his joy at the prospect of having a chance to witness his idol again in action at Chepauk come 2018. “This is the moment we were all waiting for. I want to thank the IPL GC for fulfilling our wish. CSK is like a family for all its fans and I will be travelling to all its away matches next season. Apart from Dhoni, I would like to see Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Faf du Plessis retained,” mentioned the diehard CSK fan. Queried about the notable omission of R Ashwin from his wish list, Saravanan said he could always be bought during the auction. 

For now, the thought that CSK’s beloved son Dhoni could be seen donning his fabled yellow jersey comes as a succour to his legion of admirers.