IPL 2020 Auction Strategy for Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Investment in fresh blood and backup overseas players the priority for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as we look at their Auction strategy for IPL 2020.
It is no surprise that Chennai Super Kings have managed to retain the maximum number of players before the IPL 2020 Auction. There is a reason for their consistency over the years in the IPL, and it is their ability to showcase faith in the players they have hired.
Chennai Super Kings have sustained the core by retaining 20 players. Unfortunately, they had to let go Sam Billings, David Willey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Dhruv Shorey, and Mohit Sharma. However, this shouldn’t hamper their strategy much for IPL 2020.
With the IPL 2020 Auction scheduled to take place in less than a month’s time, we have decided to analyze CSK’s retained squad, and then touch upon the strategy CSK can adopt for IPL 2020 Auction.
CSK’s final squad before IPL 2020 Auction:
Total Retained Players: 20 | Total Purse Available: INR 1460L
Batsmen: Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Murali Vijay, N Jagadeeshan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Suresh Raina
All-rounders: Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shane Watson.
Bowlers: Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Monu Kumar, and Shardul Thakur.
MS Dhoni’s side looks well balanced from all the departments if they only had to select a playing 11. They have good openers, solid middle-order, a shrewd Captain, good bowling all-rounders, versatile spin option, and a good pace attack.
However, there are few areas that Chennai Super Kings would be looking to address in the IPL 2020 Auction. Let’s have a look at them.
#3: Buy a Good Backup Wicket-keeper
CSK have always had MS Dhoni as their primary wicket-keeper since the beginning of the IPL. While Dhoni is their primary wicket-keeper, releasing Sam Billings has created a gap to hire a backup wicket-keeper batsman.
Hence, considering CSK have two overseas spots left to hire, they should look at one of these to be a wicket-keeper batsman. But, even if they don’t buy a wicket-keeper, CSK are good off with Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu as their secondary backups.
#2: Buy a good Batting All-rounder
CSK do have a good list of all-rounders in the form of Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Kedar Jadhav, and Shane Watson. However, MS Dhoni has hardly utilized the bowling skills of Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav in IPL 2019, and it is still an uncertainty if they would be utilized as bowlers.
The other all-rounders are all bowling all-rounders, thus leaving the gap of a batting all-rounder in the side. Thus, CSK should look to buy either an overseas or an Indian batting all-rounder at the Auction.
#1: Invest in Young Blood
Since the reincarnation of Chennai Super Kings in 2018, they have been heavily relying on ‘experience’ to succeed in the IPL. Along with their captain, MS Dhoni, CSK have almost 10-15 players with age more than 30. While this has certainly helped CSK in IPL 2018 and IPL 2019, it cannot be considered as a long term strategy.
As Musafa in Lion King once said, “One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time, and would rise with you as the new King”. Similarly, MS Dhoni and the current team are in its final years, and the team would need to buy at least 2-3 fresh blood as their long term bet.
Concluding the analysis, CSK might be the only team who have almost all their bases covered going into the Auction. It is only a few backups that they need to look at the IPL 2020 Auction.
ALSO READ: IPL 2019: Chennai Super Kings Team Rating
Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics.
Cricket to him is like what ‘Football is to Lionel Messi’, ‘Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar’, ‘Dancing is to Michael Jackson’, and what ‘Acting is to Clint Eastwood’.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
