Chennai Super Kings Overview
CSK had a stellar last season, with the team trumping Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the 2018 IPL title. Naturally, they did the needful and preserved their core team in the transfer window. In fact, they allowed just three players to leave, viz., Mark Wood, Kanishk Seth, Kshitiz Sharma.
That meant that the team had only two slots available going into the auctions, with both of them going to Indian players.
And as was expected, they were always in the market to apply some final finishes to their squad, having retained the almost the entire squad beforehand. Even though they played a minor role during the 2019 auction, they did bring in some value additions in the squad, especially in the Indian fast-bowling department. They had initially bid high for Jaydev Unadkat, but with them being restricted with a strict purse of just over ₹8 crore, they decided to back off, with the Saurashtra player going to his former employers Rajasthan Royals instead.
The auctions really had a theme of reunion, with many notable players going back to their former clubs even though some of them had been released just a couple of months ago by those exact teams.
Welcome to the den, Ruturaj Gaikwad! #SuperAuction #PrideOf19 #WhistlePodu ?? pic.twitter.com/nM4E85dYWE
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) December 18, 2018
It did not come as a surprise, as a result, that CSK went all out to buy their long-time serviceman Mohit Sharma, securing his services for Rs 5 crore. He had essayed key roles for the team in the past and thankfully they returned the favour by putting in an enormous amount of trust in him. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the other addition by the South Indian team.
Squad strength: 25
Players bought in the auction: 2 (Mohit Sharma Rs 5 crore, Ruturaj Gaikwad Rs 20 lakhs)
Purse unspent: Rs 3.2 Crore
Complete Squad
| Batsmen | All Rounders | Spinners | Pacers |
| R Gaikwad* | R Jadeja | Mitchell Santner | Mohit Sharma* |
| MS Dhoni (wk) | David Willey | Imran Tahir | Lungi Ngidi |
| Suresh Raina | Dwayne Bravo | Harbhajan Singh | Deepak Chahar |
| Faf du Plessis | Shane Watson | Karn Sharma | KM Asif |
| M Vijay | Kedar Jadhav | Shardul Thakur | |
| Sam Billings (wk) | C Bishnoi | Monu Kumar | |
| Ambati Rayudu | |||
| Dhruv Shorey | |||
| N Jagadeesan (wk) |
* indicates players signed in the auction
Media Reactions
Reason why CSK brought #MohitSharma pic.twitter.com/a1Ua6GVVPT
— Rajat Rao (@Rao10Rajat) December 18, 2018
Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things… #SuperAuction?? pic.twitter.com/LQmmeHymE4
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) December 18, 2018
MI vs CSK appo santhippom….??
Me MI ? pic.twitter.com/by67Yw0Z5d— arunprasad (@Cinephile05) December 19, 2018
Architect-turned-Mystery Spinner Varun Chakravarthy is picked up for a massive INR 8.4 cr by KXIP. CSK run out of funds midway through the bidding tussle to sign the local boy #IPLAuction https://t.co/Y7CyciNNRS
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) December 18, 2018
Had a close look at him last year at CSK nets… This guy Varun Chakravarthy have the potential to play for INDIA.. selectors should keep an eye on him.. he is a fast and furious spin bowler.. another mystery spinner ✅?..
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 18, 2018
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