IPL 2021 Auction: After suffering a nightmare in IPL 2020 and finishing last in the IPL points table with 12 points (along with Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their talisman skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni are looking to make amends in the Indian Premier League 2021 edition. And to pose a challenge for the IPL 2021 title, CSK need to get rid of the dead-wood in the ageing squad and replenish both their batting and bowling attack with fresh talent.
And in order to do just that the CSK management decided to part ways with seasoned campaigners like Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Murali Vijay, Piyush Chawla, and rookie Monu Singh. Also, veteran Australian all-rounder Shane Watson announced retirement and it freed one more spot in the Chennai Super Kings IPL squad. The MS Dhoni-led CSK have retained 18 players in their IPL 2021 squad.
Ahead of the retention day, CSK had a purse of Rs 15 crores and a mountainous task of squad rebuild. But by letting these 6 players go, CSK increased their purse to Rs 22.9 crores ahead of the IPL auction 2021. With this purse and a number of spots to fill, Dhoni looked set to infuse fresh set of legs and talent into the three-time IPL winning side.
However, on the day after retention stipulations ended, CSK made a trade with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and bought veteran batsman and part-time wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa in a cash deal worth Rs 3 crores. Hence, CSK’s purse to splurge during IPL 2021 Auction reduced to Rs 19.9 crores.
Another surprise was retention of southpaw Suresh Raina who had an acrimonious exit from the IPL 2020 squad in the UAE. Understandably, Dhoni and CSK management have decided that Raina’s departure was also among reasons why their middle-order crumbled repeatedly in IPL 2020 and contrary to expectations decided to retain him for IPL 14.
IPL 2021 Auction will be held on February 18 in Chennai.
Chennai Super Kings IPL 2021 squad (pre-IPL auction):
CSK Retained Players: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi, Ambati Rayudu, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Ruturaj Gaikwad, N Jagadeesan, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, R Sai Kishore.
Players Released by CSK: Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Monu Singh, Shane Watson (retired).
