CSK's strongest playing 11 after IPL Auction 2023

Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) purchased seven players at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction in Kochi on Friday, December 23. Chennai entered the auction with a purse of ₹20.45 crore and had ₹1.5 crore left at the end of it.

CSK went out of their way to purchase versatile England all-rounder Ben Stokes for ₹16.25 crore. Apart from strengthening the squad further, the move is being seen as a possible indicator of who will lead the side after MS Dhoni’s likely exit following the 2023 edition. Stokes is now CSK’s most expensive signing in history, breaking the previous record held by Deepak Chahar (₹14 crore).

Apart from Stokes, New Zealand’s bowling all-rounder Kyle Jamieson (₹1 crore) was Chennai’s other significant purchase. During the auction, the franchise also bought Ajinkya Rahane (₹50 lakh), Shaik Rasheed (₹20 lakh), Nishant Sindhu (₹60 lakh), Ajay Mandal (₹20 lakh) and Bhagath Varma (₹20 lakh) to complete their squad for IPL 2023.

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CSK’s predicted XI for IPL 2023

With the IPL 2023 auction done and dusted, the next step for the franchises will be to try and work out what could be their best combination for the upcoming edition.

On that note, here’s our strongest playing 11 for the Chennai franchise after the IPL 2023 auction.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Chowdhary, Maheesh Theekshana.

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Speaking about Chennai’s big IPL 2023 auction purchases, Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanath was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo:

"Very excited to get Stokes, and we were lucky also because he came up at the end. We wanted an all-rounder, and MS was very happy that we got Stokes.

“Kyle Jamieson was injured, so maybe many others didn’t look at him. We had information from (Stephen) Fleming that he had recovered and was raring to go. CSK looks bright, and I hope we do well this season. We follow the process always, and that will help us do well.”

Regarding the captaincy, he stated that the option of picking Stokes as a leader is there, but added that it’s a call Dhoni will take with time.

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CSK squad after IPL 2023 Auction

Below is the updated Chennai Super Kings squad after the IPL 2023 auction:

MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma.