When we tell or hear the word CSK, these are the things which pop up immediately in our mind:
Thala Dhoni
Chinna Thala Raina
Chepauk, otherwise known as AnbuDen
Parasakthi Express, Namakkal Anjaneyar etc.
But Chennai is an emotion for each and every cricket player as it is known as the knowledgeable crowd and the love they shower for the players who come and play in their home ground. Let’s now delve into the post auction review of the Chennai Super Kings, the defending champions of the IPL.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. They play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd and India Cements is the major stakeholder. The team is captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming. In January 2022, CSK became India's first unicorn sports enterprise.
The Chennai Super Kings has had the best of the best players from all around the world over the years they have played. Stephen Fleming, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Flintoff, Brendon McCullum, Michael and David Hussey, Dwayne Smith, Albie Morkel, Doung Bollinger, Dirk Nannes, Tim Southee, Subramanian Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, George Bailey, Jacob Oram, Parthiv Patel etc. The team has played about 10 playoffs out of the 12 seasons played till date and it is an achievement any cricket franchise can boast of. The franchise’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the longest standing captain for any global cricket franchise and is also a successful one making the franchise clinch 4 championships over the years.
The CSK franchise retained 4 core players from their previous edition in 2021 in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12 crs), Ravindra Jadeja (16 crs), Mooen Ali (8 crs) and sensational Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crs). With total purse of 90 crs allotted by the IPL committee, CSK spent 42 crs on the retained players and went into the IPL Mega auction 2022 held at Bangalore on 12th and 13thof February with 48 crores.
CSK, as an franchise, always banks on the process and the experienced players of the format and that formula of theirs had worked wonders. With the same formula, they started their Day 1 proceedings as below.
Day 1 Auction:
CSK and MI are two smart franchises who don’t rush through their picks to make their lineup look sleazy and too much star studded. They wait for the right opportunity to grab the players at steal prices and ensure their picks develop over the years to become great stars.
CSK purchased about 6 players on the first day of the auction in which 5 of the previous squad members returned back to their home in Dwayne Bravo (4.4 crs), Robin Uthappa (2 crs), Ambati Rayudu (6.75 crs), KM Asif (20 lakhs) and the highest purchase of their auction in Deepak Chahar (14 crs). Apart from these, they roped in young bowling sensation from Delhi Capitals Tushar Deshpande for the base price of 20 lakhs.
Apart from the purchases, the CSK management went hard on getting back their soldier Faf Du Plessis who was the second highest run getter in the previous edition and went on a bidding spree with Royal Challengers Bangalore and had to lose him for INR 7 crores . Apart from him, CSK went hard on their local superstar M Shahrukh Khan and went on a bid war with Punjab Kings before losing him at an unsuccessful bid of 7 crores. They also went hard for Rahul Tewatia until 5 crs before losing him to and also on their Dhool star Shardul Thakur before losing him to Delhi Capitals for a whooping 10.75 crs.
Players purchased on end of Day 1 auction: Dwayne Bravo (INR 4.4 crs), Robin Uthappa (INR 2 crs), Ambati Rayudu (INR 6.75 crs), Deepak Chahar (INR 14 crs), KM Asif (INR 20 lakhs), Tushar Deshpande (INR 20 lakhs).
Day 1 purse at start: INR 48 crores
Purse available at end of Auction Day 1: INR 20.45 crores
Day 2 Auction:
The people of Chennai are always emotional with their stars who had played for their franchise. They were already emotional in one of their stars being unsold and not being bidded by any in Suresh Raina who is fondly called as Chinna Thala and were hoping that CSK would get their Chinna Thala back in the Day 2 auction. Day 2 of the auctions in CSK proved once again why the management of CSK are smart people in picking their players for the franchise. They made some out of the box, marvellous picks which doubled the happiness of the fans of the franchise.
CSK’s tryst with the all rounders continued with them purchasing their Santa Claus by name Mitchell Santner for INR 1.9 crs. They continued their hunt with the all rounders in picking Dwaine Pretorius from South Africa for INR 50 lakhs, Shivam Dube for INR 4 crs who previously played for RCB and RR in the previous editions. They turned their wheels towards the batters who would build a strong foundation to the team and roped in a like-to-like replacement for Faf Du Plessis in Devon Conway from NZ for a steal price of INR 1 crs and who would be a good partner for Gaikwad at the top. They got back their state opening duo in Hari Nishaanth and N Jagadeesan for INR 20 lakhs each. They further strengthened their middle order with an Indian pick in Subranshu Senapathi from Odisha, who was called for the CSK trials and picked him up for his base price of 20 lakhs. After fulfilling the batters and all rounders slots, it was time for the bowlers to have party with the CSK. Maheesh Theekshana, the sensational mystery spinner from SL was pocketed by the franchise for INR 70 lakhs, followed by India U-19 sensation Rajvardhan Hangargekar for 1.9 crs wherein they had to sweat it out with Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants. They followed suit in picking international pacers and death specialists in Adam Milne (INR 1.9 crs), Chris Jordan (INR 3.6 crs), Indian talents in Mukesh Choudhary (INR 20 lakhs), Prashant Solanki (INR 1.2 crs), Bhagath Varma (INR 20 lakhs) and Simarjeet Singh (INR 20 lakhs).
Despite money in the bank, their former stars in batter Suresh Raina and spin warhorse Imran Tahir didn’t find any takers in the accelerated auction at the end of Day 2 auction and that paved the way for the players to get unsold for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Players purchased at end of Day 2 auction: Shivam Dube (INR 4 crs), Maheesh Theekshana (INR 70 lakhs), Rajvardhan Hangargekar (INR 1.5 crs), Simarjeet Singh (INR 20 lakhs), Devon Conway (INR 1 cr.), Dwaine Pretorius (INR 50 lakhs), Mitchell Santner (INR 1.9 crs), Adam Milne (INR 1.9 crs), Subranshu Senapati (INR 20 lakhs), Mukesh Choudhary (INR 20 lakhs), Prashant Solanki (INR 1.2 crs), C Hari Nishaanth (INR 20 lakhs), N Jagadeesan (INR 20 lakhs), Chris Jordan (INR 3.6 crs), K Bhagath Varma (INR 20 lakhs).
Purse at start of Day 2 auction: INR 20.45 crores
Purse at end of Day 2 auction: INR 2.95 crs
Squad of 2022: MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, Mooen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway*, Mooen Ali*, Ambati Rayudu, R Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Dwayne Bravo* / Dwaine Pretorius*, Shivam Dube / Robin Uthappa, Adam Milne*, Deepak Chahar / Tushar Deshpande, K M Asif / Rajvardhan Hangagrekar.
(* represents foreign players)
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths: Successful captain in MS Dhoni, deep batting prowess, winning all-rounders
Weakness: No established and proven Indian pacer to support Deepak Chahar and no like-to-like replacement for Shardul Thakur
Opportunities: Abundant talent on the bench who can be chipped in with a game or two and can also serve as a backup when someone gets injured.
Threats: Injury to Deepak Chahar is creating some void in finding an established PP bowler who can mirror the performance of CSK.
On the whole, the CSK team despite having some old horses, can have them gel with the young guns and work together to get the best out of everyone and can defend the title with their mastermind captain. The fans would be disappointed with some of their favourites being missed out but would be happy with the new proven picks who can lift the spirits of the franchise.
