MS Dhoni has been one of the greatest cricket captains to ever grace the pitch. In his tenure as the Indian team’s captain, the mercurial player won every trophy that had eluded the team for years. He also became only the second Indian captain to take his side to a World Cup win after Kapil Dev. Naturally, his transition to a coaching position was a question of ‘when’ and not ‘if’.
The wicket-keeper batter took retirement from all forms of international cricket in 2020 but continues to lead the Chennai team in the Indian T20 League.
Reports had suggested that Dhoni will move into Chennai’s managerial dugout in the coming seasons. Recently however it was revealed that the 41-year-old is promoted to a mentorship role for the South African franchise in the upcoming South Africa T20 League. Notably, all the six teams in the South Africa T20 League have been bought by the Indian T20 League owners, with Chennai owners having bought the Johannesburg team.
Chennai owners were hoping to appoint Dhoni as the mentor of the Johannesburg franchise but a recent report has halted their progress. An Indian Cricket Board official has recently revealed that Dhoni would not be allowed to mentor the Johannesburg team due to Indian Cricket Board’s rules.
“It’s clear that no Indian player including domestic players can take part in any other league until he is retired from all forms of the game. If any player wants to take part in these upcoming leagues he can only do so when he cuts off all ties with the BCCI,” an Indian Cricket Board official told Indian Express.
The official added that Dhoni would have to take a massive step if he wanted to mentor the Johannesberg team. He said, “For Dhoni to mentor CSK’s team in CSA T20 League, he needs to retire from IPL as well. Then he can’t play IPL for CSK. He has to retire here first.”
