IPL 2020: Chennai Super Kings keep faith in their old guard
One of the most successful IPL teams ever, Chennai Super Kings have trusted their old guard for the upcoming 2020 IPL. As expected MS Dhoni and the franchise have backed the same set of players that got them within a touching distance of their fourth championship. With a mega auction coming up next year, the Super Kings decided to follow last year’s template for this season as well. The Yellow squad will be very shrewd in the imminent auction which takes place on 19th December in Kolkata.
The Retained Bunch
The Super Kings have not fiddled with their preferred combination. They may have all the cricketers who are on the wrong side of 30 but in terms of T20 skills, they remain legendary. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, two pillars of CSK are intact for the upcoming season as well. Along with them, Shane Watson, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir will be donning the Yellow once again. Deepak Chahar who recently recorded the best T20I bowling figures is obviously retained. CSK have decided to show faith in Murali Vijay, Shardul Thakur and lesser names like Monu Singh and KM Asif going into the next season.
Retained players: MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, K M Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina
Chennai Super Kings before IPL auction
The Released Ones
CSK franchise never give up on their players easily. They released six team members, only Sunrisers Hyderabad have released fewer. Of the six, David Willey and Chaitanya Bishnoi did not play a single match in the 2019 campaign. Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings and Dhruv Shorey featured in one game while Scott Kuggeleijn made two appearances. The New Zealand pacer’s selection was under scrutiny due to his behavioural issues back home. This leaves the 2019 finalists with 20 players in their roster, six of which are overseas.
Released Players: Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey, Dhruv Shorey, Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings, Scott Kuggeleijn.
The Trade Window
The three-time IPL champions chose not to indulge in the trading affairs. Chennai Super Kings were one amongst the three franchises who did not participate in the pre-auction transfers. All their expectations of signing fresh faces rely wholely on the 19th December event.
Remaining Purse & Auction Strategy
With a purse of 14.60 crores left in their kitty, CSK will enter the auction cautiously. They have only five slots available in their roster and only two of them can be filled by overseas players. As the history suggests, CSK are likely to swoop in late in the auction and pick up players of their liking by the time others have exhausted their purses. While they have most bases covered, signing up an overseas batsman and a pace bowler will help them add more variety to their team combination.
