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Former India captain MS Dhoni is getting ready to play in the 19th season of the Indian Premier League in IPL 2026 season next year. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had retained Dhoni as an ‘uncapped’ player for a salary of Rs 4 crore ahead of the IPL 2026 mini auction on Tuesday. With CSK building a quality ‘GenZ’ squad for the upcoming 2026 season former India batter Robin Uthappa believes that the time is now ripe for Dhoni to finally ‘step away’. Speaking on ‘IPL Auction Review’ JioStar expert Robin Uthappa commented on MS Dhoni’s evolving role at CSK. “I don’t think his role changes dramatically because this transition has been ongoing for a while. Ever since the captaincy returned to him from Ravindra Jadeja you could see that he’s been gradually shifting responsibility year after year. Each season more responsibility has moved towards Ruturaj Gaikwad. When you look at this squad now it genuinely feels like the right time for Dhoni to step away because many of these players were literally kids when he first started playing the IPL. From here CSK will need to identify a core from within this group and build forward” Uthappa said on JioStar.   CSK’s Auction Masterplan #IrfanPathan #SanjayBangar & #AakashChopra break down Chennai Super Kings’ strategy heading into the IPL 2026 season. According to you what is CSK’s strongest suit after the auction comment down? ⬇️#TATAIPL 2026 pic.twitter.com/JDmblGYTiA — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 17 2025 Dhoni has scored 5439 runs in 278 matches in IPL so far with 24 fifties at an average of 38.3 and strike-rate of 137.45. The former CSK captain led his side to record five-titles in the IPL. JioStar experts Anil Kumble Robin Uthappa and Abhinav Mukund analysed Chennai Super Kings’ strategy squad overhaul and the evolving leadership dynamics ahead of the IPL 2026. Kumble commented on CSK’s probable playing XI which was a ‘total shift’ from five-time champions usual practice. “This is a total shift from CSK’s usual practice of backing seasoned players whether Indian or overseas rather than uncapped talent. In the past there were uncapped players in the squad who stayed for multiple seasons but didn’t always get opportunities. This time they’ve completely revamped that approach. The pressure will certainly be on the captain” Kumble said on JioStar. “Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to lead from the front along with an experienced batter like Sanju Samson at the top of the order. These two will need to steady the ship early on. Someone like Shivam Dube will be key in managing the middle overs along with MS Dhoni. It won’t be easy; this is a young group. In the IPL if it comes off you could be scoring 200 or 250. But if it doesn’t you could be 40 for five and that’s where games can change quickly. That said there is a lot of high-quality young potential in this squad” Kumble added. JioStar expert and former India batter Abhinav Mukund commented on the scale of change CSK have undertaken. “I think CSK have put together a pretty solid side. Their retentions earlier were always based on what had worked for them in the past but now everything is out of the window. For 2026 it’s almost like a 30% investment in wicketkeepers. They now have one from every decade — one in his teens one in his 20s one in his 30s and one in his 40s” Mukund said. “On a serious note this is a complete reset for CSK. Just imagine the number of meetings they must have had before arriving at these decisions because this is a legacy franchise built on one system one belief and strong player loyalty. Every player who has represented CSK has spoken about how much they love the environment. Now there are players who have never experienced that system and are coming into it for the first time. This is a huge shift a tectonic shift in CSK’s approach. This doesn’t look like the CSK team we’re used to seeing with overseas openers an international all-rounder in the middle and a tall overseas fast bowler from Australia or South Africa. This is a very different CSK side” he added.