IPL 2020: 3 players Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should have released but didn’t

One player didn't even play a single match for CSK last season.

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK). (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)

The Indian cricket festival in the form of Indian Premier League (IPL) is preparing itself for the thirteenth edition of the tournament which is going to take place in April and May next year. The owners of all the franchises have already started to work on their strategies in a bid to strengthen their side before the auction take place on 16th of December 2019 in the City of Joy, Kolkata.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the most consistent franchise in the history of the tournament is looking stable as it looks year in and year out. Under the captaincy of the legendary skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the boys in yellow have almost covered all their important bases even before the start of the auction.

They have retained the most number of players compared to other sides going into the auction. Meanwhile, there were players who may not deserve to be in the squad of the last year’s IPL finalists, but still, their wise think tank has shown faith in them one more time and have retained them ahead of the IPL 2020.

In the article, let’s take a look at three CSK players who shouldn’t have been retained:-

Monu Kumar

Monu Kumar
Monu Kumar. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

The right-arm medium-fast bowler from Dhoni’s hometown Ranchi, Monu Kumar has risen through the ranks of Indian domestic circuit rather quickly. Many of you won’t be knowing but Monu was a part of the Under-19 Indian cricket team which played in the 2014 World Cup. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much of match time to prove his mantle in that tournament.

Monu made his T20 domestic debut for Jharkhand in a game of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2016. There, he was grabbing the attention of a few people with his all-round display. Chennai’s scouting team had their eyes on him. The franchise eventually bought him for the 2018 IPL season. But, to his dismay, he didn’t even make his debut for the champion side.

But for everyone’s surprise, Chennai retained him for yet another season. But with the likes of Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Shane Watson and KM Asif in the ranks, it looks like Monu will not be able to breach the playing eleven of Chennai in the upcoming season. They should have released him which would have helped him to find some playing time elsewhere.

Karn Sharma

Karn Sharma of Mumbai Indians celebrates fall of a wicket
Karn Sharma of Mumbai Indians celebrates fall of a wicket. (Photo: IANS)

When a leg spinner doesn’t get a chance to get into a team’s playing eleven especially when you are playing in sub-continental conditions, you must accept the fact that the team is really strong. This is what happened with Karn Sharma. The leg spinner has a proven record in the domestic T20 leagues as well as in his early IPL years but still is not able to make it to the CSK playing eleven.

The leggie has played only one IPL game last year taking only one wicket. And with the likes of two proven Indian spinners in the form of Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja, it is improbable that he will feature in the starting line-up. Both the above-mentioned spinners are miles ahead of Karn in an international as well as IPL expertise.

But the main reason for Karn’s exclusion from the squad regularly is the South African legendary leg spinner Imran Tahir who held the ranking of World number one T20I bowler for a long time. He is Chennai’s ace spinner who features in almost every game which his side plays in the IPL. And the fact that Tahir will be the first choice leg spinner in the upcoming IPL, Karn may once again warm the bench throughout the tournament.

Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay
Murali Vijay. (Photo: IANS)

Well, Murali Vijay has seen better days, hasn’t he? The Chennai born right-handed batsman has represented India at the Test level so many times. Having the expertise of batting sensibly when the team is in trouble, Vijay has been a stalwart at the top of the order for Chennai Super Kings in their earlier days. But right now, he doesn’t seem to be the same batsman.

Vijay went unsold in the 2017 IPL player auction. The IPL career of the Indian Test opener was almost over. But Chennai management had other plans. By taking his outstanding contribution for the franchise into consideration, they bought him for the 2018 season of IPL. Though, the real picture was drastically different. He featured in only a single game in that season for his side.

With regular CSK openers Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu hammering opponent bowlers all over the park in the powerplay, it was very tough for Vijay to make a statement. Another similar season followed in 2019 IPL when he played only two games at the top. With the likes of Faf du Plessis sitting in the ranks, it will be difficult for Vijay to break into the playing eleven.

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