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Gavaskar Unhappy With BCCI's Decision To Tweak Uncapped Player Rule To Accommodate MS Dhoni
Follow UsThe CSK star was retained for INR 4 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction
Since the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, a player who had not played international cricket for at least five years was allowed to enter the auction as an uncapped player. That was, however, scrapped in 2021, but was brought back once again ahead of the mega auction in 2025.
That allowed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and India legend MS Dhoni to be retained at INR 4 crore. However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is not pleased with this decision just to accommodate Dhoni, as he believes that Indian cricket takes a beating with such moves.
"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 ₹4 crore," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar has also called for the abolishment of such a rule and has also asked for the reduction of the retention amount for uncapped players.
He feels that an uncapped player receiving a massive sum affects a player's performance. For instance, Rasikh Salam was the most expensive uncapped player bought in the auction for INR 6 crore, and he has played just two games for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) this season.
“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,” Gavaskar added.
"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."
In Dhoni's case, he was not just retained as an uncapped player, but took over as CSK captain when Ruturaj Gaikwad injured his elbow and was consequently ruled out of the tournament.