IPL 2025: Will retain MS Dhoni as a capped player - R Ashwin gives retention tips to CSK, praises an uncapped star

Add as a preferred source on Google

IPL 2025: They call him 'cricket scientist' and rightly so. Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has give IPL 2025 retention tips to his former franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Ashwin has suggested that CSK should retain their former captain MS Dhoni as a capped player and pick Sameer Rizvi as the only uncapped player while finalising their IPL 2025 players retention list.

Notably, the IPL governing council has brought back the rule which suggests that any Indian player who hasn't featured in India playing eleven for the last five years can be picked as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore only.

"I will give a fresh perspective. I will retain Rutu (Gaikwad), Jaddu (Jadeja), Dube, Pathirana and Dhoni. I will retain Dhoni as a normal capped player, not as an uncapped player. I'll retain these five and will get Sameer Rizvi as my sixth retention," Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel.

Ashwin's opinion was countered by Prasanna Raman, a former South Africa performance analyst, who reckoned that Rizvi did not justify his price tag of Rs 8.4 crore in his debut IPL season. The 20-year-old scored 51 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 118.

"I don't even know whether he would agree to play for Rs 4 crore," Raman said.

Ashwin was quick to rescue Rizvi and defend his opinion by taking note of his performances in the UPT20 League. He stated that the Meerut-born cricketer is among the brightest young talents in the country. Rizvi was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2024 season of UPT20 League, scoring 468 runs in 13 matches at an average of 42.55 and a strike rate of 152.44.

"He has been putting on a show every day. There's a huge upside with him. He will fall into the same bracket as other upcoming stars," Ashwin said confidently.