IPL 2018 Auction Day 1: Chennai Super Kings Squad

Chennai Super Kings return to the fray of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after serving the suspension of two years. They were already upbeat about the upcoming season and announced their return with the bang. Expectedly, they retained the favourite son of Chennai, MS Dhoni, and appointed him at the helm to lead the new-look side. They looked quite reserved at the auction and came up with a particular strategy for the players. However, in the end, the franchise managed to form a decent squad with which they would be aiming to win the title.

CSK has been one of the most successful teams in the history of the IPL. They’ve won the coveted title twice in eight years and is the only team to qualify to the knockouts (or playoffs) in all the editions of the lucrative league. The only blemish in their records is the two-year suspension due to the franchise’s alleged involvement in the spot-fixing saga. They are coming back this year and would want to win the title right away for which they’re known for.

Which players CSK bought in the auction?

CSK also went on to retain Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja during the player retention event. Though in the auction they failed to bag the off-spinner R Ashwin as his stakes went high in the intense bidding war. But they managed to pick the most experienced Harbhajan Singh in their ranks which covered for the absence of Ashwin. They surprised eveeryone though by going all out for Kedar Jadhav who is a potential all-rounder and a brilliant finisher as well. Moreover, Dhoni loves his bowling action which is slingy and foxes the batsman.

CSK, as expected, used Right to Match (RTM) cards for Dwayne Bravo and Faf du Plessis in which the latter was a steal for them for just Rs 1.6 Crore. While they paid a huge amount of Rs. 6.4 Crore for Windies all-rounder as he is a champion player in the shortest format of the game. They also picked the former Australian cricketer Shane Watson.

Here are the already retained players:

1) MS Dhoni– Wicketkeeper Batsman- Rs 15 Crores

2) Suresh Raina– All Rounder- Rs. 11 Crores

3) Ravindra Jadeja– All Rounder- Rs. 7 Crores

Here are Chennai Super Kings picks from Day-1 auction

1) Kedar Jadhav–  All-rounder- Rs 9 Crores

2) Dwayne Bravo– Batsman- Rs 2.8 Crores

3) Shane Watson– Batsman- Rs 1.5 Crores

4) Harbhajan Singh– Batsman- Rs 1.9 Crores

5) Faf Du Plessis– Fast Bowler- Rs 3 Crores

6) Karn Sharma – Bowler – Rs 5 Crores

7) Ambati Rayudu – Batsman – Rs 2.2 Crores

8) Imran Tahir – Bowler – Rs 1 Crore

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