Not Rishabh Pant: This India Star Backed To Succeed MS Dhoni At CSK

The IPL 2025 mega auctions are just around the corner and the excitement among the fans is just increased with every passing day. The highly-anticipated will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24-25. A total of 1574 players are set to feature in the mega auction that will see marquee players like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Siraj go under the hammer. Rahul, who was the captain of Lucknow Super Giants since 2022, was released by the franchise ahead of the auctions.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has stated that Chennai Super Kings should try to rope-in Rahul as he can be good successor to MS Dhoni. The five-time champions have retained their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, and Matheesha Pathirana while Dhoni has been retained as an uncapped player.

As CSK are looking for a player to replace the legendary wicketkeeper-batter Dhoni, Chopra has suggested that Rahul can be a good option.

"What all do they need? I feel they need a successor to Dhoni, a wicketkeeper-batter and it's great if they get an Indian. Everyone is saying, let me also say - he is more than 30 years old, is going to be a father very soon and everyone has written him off as well, so he is right for Chennai, that's KL Rahul. So they will definitely go for KL Rahul," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"We can't say for how long they will go but they will try to acquire him because the franchise still has Rs 55 crore to be spent. So if they can get an Indian like him, Ishan Kishan or Rishabh Pant for Rs 10-15 crore, they are going to try. They might think about Shreyas Iyer for some time because they will need Indian batters to bat in those conditions," he added.

The list of 1574 players includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from the Associate Nations.

Among the capped players, 48 are from India. Moreover, 965 uncapped players of the country will also be part of the auction.