Robin Uthappa on Dhoni at CSK: ‘Genuinely feels like right time for him to step away’

MS Dhoni & Robin Utthappa

But even before the auction, CSK have made decisive moves about its leadership group within the side: trading Ravindra Jadeja, a man it had once entrusted captaincy on, to Rajasthan Royals in exchange for Sanju Samson, who was the skipper of RR for many seasons.

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has said that given the squad Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) have on their hands after the IPL 2026 auction, this feels “like the right time” for franchise cornerstone Mahendra Singh Dhoni to step away from the side.

“I don’t think his (Dhoni’s) 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 JioHotstar’s TATA IPL Auction Review show.