CSK wants MS Dhoni back in the team for 2018 IPL
Chennai Super Kings are ready to get back into IPL action as their two-year suspension ended on Thursday and their main agenda is getting MS Dhoni back in the team. CSK along with Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the IPL for 2 seasons by the Supreme Court following the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.
Chennai Super Kings have one of the biggest fanbases among all the Indian Premier League teams and a large part of it has been down to MS Dhoni's presence in the side in each of its IPL campaigns. And therefore, it comes as no surprise that ahead of their much-awaited comeback to the cash-league next year, the team management's main objective is getting Dhoni back in the team.
Till now, the BCCI has not decided the retention policy for the next year’s IPL. However, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), the company that runs the team, is hopeful that they can retain their star players.
"If we are given an option of retaining a player, it will definitely be Dhoni," K George John, one of the directors of CSKCL, told TOI. "We haven't yet discussed with Dhoni as his contract with Pune Supergiant ends later this year. However, we will speak to him in the future," he added.
CSK are one of the most successful teams in the IPL having won the title twice in 2010 and 2011 under Dhoni’s captaincy. The former Indian captain contributed 2987 runs for CSK during 2008 and 2015.  But it's not just Dhoni, the CSK management is also planning to get back the same support staff CSK had in 2015, which includes former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming was working as the head coach, Andy Bichel (bowling coach), Steve Rixon (fielding coach), and analyst Lakshmi Narayanan."For us, loyalty is very important. That's been our strength over the years.Though we haven't yet taken a final decision on the support staff, we are definitely thinking of retaining the old support staff," John added.
Finally, to celebrate their comeback, team management will start its promotional campaign from Friday along with a couple of social media activities, apart from this they are looking for more options.
"We look up to this TNPL period for conducting some interaction sessions. For example, if Hayden is here then we can plan a CSK get-together. We are still figuring out other options," he concluded.