Four players Chennai Super Kings should sign in the IPL auction

Among the eight teams that will be a part of the IPL, Chennai Super Kings have retained the most number of players as they released just three players ahead of the auction. With this, they can even afford to return from the auction without a single buy. Even if they want to by players, they will have 10.4 crore INR for just two signings and one can expect them to go all out in the auction which is likely to take place on December 18.

Retained players: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif KM, N Jagadeesan, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey, Mitchell Santner

Released players: Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Kanish Seth

Available slots: 2; Indian 2, Overseas 0

Let us take a look at four players who CSK could sign in the 2019 IPL auction.

Jaydev Unadkat

Even though Chennai Super Kings won the 2018 IPL, they had a lot of concerns in their team which was very evident from the fact that their skipper MS Dhoni has often come out and publicly expressed his disappointment with his team’s death bowling.

Shardul Thakur was doing a majority of the work in the death overs but with him being in the scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup, there are more chances that he might not play all the matches. Even if he plays, CSK will be hoping to have a luxury of another death bowler in the XI.

They have a perfect player in Jaydev Unadkat for that role. Unadkat, who was bought for 11 crores in the 2018 IPL auction, was released by Rajasthan Royals and is set to enter the auction pool. CSK wanted to get his services last season but narrowly missed out on getting him after KXIP outbid them before Royals eventually stole him right under KXIP’s nose.

In Unadkat, CSK will get a bowler, who is equally good in the death and also with the new ball. He can swing the ball both ways and has a few variations up his sleeves.

Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma was one of the 11 players released by Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2019 IPL auction. The right-arm pacer played just nine of the 14 matches and had a forgettable season as he picked up just seven wickets at an average of 46 and an economy of over 10 which eventually led to his release.

Mohit, who has played a handful number of matches for India in the past, is a very good bowler with the new ball as he is capable of swinging it both the ways. Over the years, he has gone on to become a good death bowler.

He came to the limelight when he was playing for CSK and he is someone who is liked by MS Dhoni. The franchise could go all out and get him to their team. His addition could be valuable because he could fill in the role of a decent Indian pacer to partner Shardul Thakur.

Yuvraj Singh

The hero of India’s victories in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh was released by Kings XI Punjab after just one season after he managed to score just 65 runs in eight outings at an average of 10.83 and a strike-rate of less than 90.

Although Chennai has a packed middle order that has the likes of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni etc., the southpaw from Punjab will be a valuable addition to the defending champions. Though he is not his old self, he still has the experience which could be very handy in a tournament like IPL.

It will be very difficult for Yuvraj to get a place in the XI but he could be a good back-up especially given the fact that the likes of Rayudu, Jadhav and even Dhoni could be rested for a few games in the IPL keeping the 2019 World Cup in mind.

Manan Vohra

In the 2018 IPL, Chennai Super Kings promoted Ambati Rayudu to open the batting with Shane Watson in spite of having Murali Vijay in the side. Rayudu repaid the faith the team management had in him as he led his team to the title. Yet again, CSK will look to have Rayudu and Watson open the batting for India with Vijay being the only backup option.

Since Rayudu has sealed his place in the Indian ODI side, one can expect him to miss a few matches keeping the World Cup in mind and in his absence, CSK will have only Vijay at their disposal. Having yet another option for opening the batting will give them more luxury. Among the players who were released by their franchises, Manan Vohra is someone who fits the bill properly. Vohra is capable of getting his team to a great start and could be a valuable addition to the CSK camp as a reserve opener.