Finance
Chennai Super Kings CEO KS Viswanathan has confirmed that former India captain and charismatic wicketkeeper-batter Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the team in the lucrative T20 tournament in 2023.
Viswanathan told CSK TV that he believes the team will “do well” in the upcoming edition, led by Dhoni.
“Obviously, everyone knows that Thalaivan (MS Dhoni) is going to lead the side, and he will do his best, and the team will do well,” Viswanathan said a day after revealing CSK’s retained and released players ahead of the 2023 IPL auction.
The Super Kings have released Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, Chris Jordan, N. Jagadeesan, C. Hari Nishaanth, K. Bhagat Varma, KM Asif, and Robin Uthappa, who has announced his retirement.
Viswanathan added it’s really tough to release players who have been part of several of CSK’s winning campaigns, with the franchise being “very passionate with the players”.
“It is a very tough call as far as retention is concerned. As you know that CSK has been very passionate with the players, and they have also been contributing so well for the franchise. It becomes very difficult for us to decide while releasing the players,” Viswanathan said.
“The contribution they have made to CSK will always be cherished and we know that yes, if there is an opportunity for any of them to come back, they will be back in CSK colours. See, a word to the fans is that we expect to do well. We had one bad season and the next season we won (in 2021). Hope that we will repeat the same (in 2023),” he said.
He also hoped that after two years, CSK would be able to play at their home stadium, the MA Chidambaram Stadium. CSK won their fourth IPL title in the UAE in 2021 before finishing ninth in the 10-team tournament this year with four wins and ten losses.
“Obviously, the last two years we were not able to play at home and the current decision is that we will be able to play in our home ground. We have taken that into account, and the team management based on that has decided to release the players,” he added.
Source:OCN
