
Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) MS Dhoni comes out of the Chennai airport on Wednesday (February 26). Photo: CSK's X handle
Watch: Dhoni lands in Chennai for CSK's IPL 2025 pre-season camp
CSK, the five-time IPL champions, will open their campaign against Mumbai Indians on March 23 in Chennai
MS Dhoni on Wednesday (February 26) arrived in Chennai for a pre-season camp ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025.
Once again, 43-year-old Dhoni will be seen in action for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the IPL 2025 kicks off on March 22.
Also read: IPL 2025 schedule is out
CSK's first match against MI
Five-time IPL champions will open their campaign against another five-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 23 (Sunday).
In a picture shared by CSK on their X (formerly Twitter) handle, former captain Dhoni was seen wearing a black T-shirt and sunglasses, and exiting the Chennai airport, escorted by security personnel.
Also read: IPL 2025 squads after mega auction
"I only play a couple of months in a year, but I want to enjoy it the way I started playing, that's something that keeps me going," Dhoni said recently at an event.
'Uncapped' Dhoni's retention price
Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, and his last match for India was the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand.
Since he has not played international cricket for five years or more, as per IPL rules, Dhoni was retained by CSK as an “uncapped” player for Rs 4 crore.
Dhoni was among the five players retained by CSK ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, and Ravindra Jadeja were the other four.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad for IPL 2025 (25 players, 7 overseas)
Bought at auction (20): Noor Ahmad (Rs 10 crore), Ravichandran Ashwin (Rs 9.75 crore), Devon Conway (Rs 6.25 crore), Khaleel Ahmed (Rs 4.80 crore), Rachin Ravindra (Rs 4 crore – RTM), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 3.40 crore), Anshul Kamboj (Rs 3.40 crore), Sam Curran (Rs 2.40 crore), Gurjapneet Singh (Rs 2.20 crore), Nathan Ellis (Rs 2 crore), Deepak Hooda (Rs 1.70 crore), Jamie Overton (Rs 1.50 crore), Vijay Shankar (Rs 1.20 crore), Vansh Bedi (Rs 55 lakh), Ramakrishna Ghosh (Rs 30 lakh), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (Rs 30 lakh), Mukesh Choudhary (Rs 30 lakh), Shaik Rasheed (Rs 30 lakh), Andre Siddarth (Rs 30 lakh), Shreyas Gopal (Rs 30 lakh).
Retained (5): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni.