IPL Auctions 2018: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) performance at the auctions

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played the waiting game to perfection at the 2018 IPL auctions to put together a well-balanced squad that weighed heavily with all-rounders and a plethora of spin options to choose from.

After a quiet opening day on Saturday which saw them buy only eight players, CSK started off slowly on the second day of the auctions as well, surprisingly shying away from bidding for most of the local players, but started making their moves just before lunch.

They made good use of the saved-up money once the unsold players of Day 1 made their way back via the accelerated list, concentrating on the uncapped Indian players and the fast bowlers - areas the CSK squad were light on.

Despite reaching the maximum permissible squad size of 25 an hour after lunch, some shrewd buys from the CSK team meant that they still had Rs 6.5 crore remaining in their kitty by the time they finished their purchases.

To put things into perspective, 5 of the 8 overseas players in the CSK squad came in at their base price while they used the two RTM cards available to them to retain South Africa's Faf du Plessis and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo in their fold.

Losing out local boy Ravichandran Ashwin to Kings XI Punjab was a big blow no doubt, but they bolstered their spin department with a good mix of players and with the core of their squad very much intact, the CSK fans will be hopeful of making a winning return to the IPL.

Preparing for the auctions:

Two-time IPL Champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were making a return to the T20 tournament after a two-year gap and were one of four teams to retain 3 players ahead of the 2018 IPL auctions.

That meant the CSK management had Rs 47 crore in their kitty to build their squad around the Indian star trio of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and Ravindra Jadeja.

The big question though was that whether they would be able to retain local boy Ravichandran Ashwin, with the two Right to Match(RTM) cards available to them only going to be useful in the case of two uncapped Indian players, two overseas players or a combination of both.

How the auction unfolded:

Losing out on local boys Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar

The CSK fans didn't have to wait long for the answer though as Ashwin was the second player up for bidding on Saturday. The Chennai-based franchise did bid for the Indian off-spinner but pulled out once he got costlier.

They quickly made amends though bringing in a like-for-like replacement in the form of veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. They further shored up their spin department by bringing in the likes of Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma and Mithcell Santner, in addition to the already retained Ravindra Jadeja.

It was surprising though that CSK opted not to bid for local talent Washington Sundar who was snapped up by neighbours Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Calm and composed - Dhoni style

It was clear pretty much from the onset that the CSK management had chalked out a list of players they were looking at and there was no way that they were going to get dragged into a bidding war on a regular basis.

They looked disinterested in the proceedings at times, using the paddle only when the players they really wanted came up for bidding. Akin to skipper MS Dhoni's calm and composed demeanor on the field, the CSK camp rarely looked animated at the auction proceedings.

They did, however, have a go at a few players, most notably Jayadev Unadkat, as their quest for a fast bowler made them enter into an intense bidding war with Kings XI Punjab before pulling out once the price reached Rs 11 crore.

RTM cards - For and against

CSK are one of the best-supported teams in the IPL with a loyal fan base and maintaining that connect with the masses was no on top of the franchise's agenda upon their return to the IPL.

They made full use of the available retentions to keep skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja within their ranks. Though not hailing from the South Indian city, the Indian trio has developed a great bond with the CSK fans over the years and losing out on any of the three was never going to be an option.

Another player who can lay claim to a similar association with the fans is West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and after losing out local boy Ravichandran Ashwin to Kings XI Punjab, CSK used the RTM card to match the latter's highest bid of Rs 6.4 crore, thus retaining Bravo in their squad.

CSK used their second RTM card to retain another fan-favourite in Faf du Plessis and it came surprisingly easy as they had to shell out only Rs 1.6 crore to match the winning bid of Rs 1.6 crore from, yet again, Kings XI Punjab.

CSK found themselves on the receiving end of the RTM cards as well, losing out on Kagiso Rabada, Piyush Chawla and Mohit Sharma to Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab respectively.

The last lap

After shying away from intense bidding for most of the day, CSK got into overdrive just before lunch on Sunday as they went about filling up the gaps in their squad.

High on the agenda was getting a number of uncapped Indian players in their squad, a couple of solid batsman at the top as well as the all-important pace department.

They may have missed out on Rabada but made amends by securing another South African in Lungisani Ngidi, who wasted little time in trying to win over the CSK fans with his promise to do the Lungi dance, as well as England pacer Mark Wood.

Also making his way to CSK was Indian pacer Shardul Thakur who will be hoping to spearhead the pace attack for MS Dhoni's side.

They also secured talented Delhi youngster Dhruv Shorey, who impressed with his performances in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

A number of unknown faces were also picked up and with people like Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni to guide them, the youngsters can consider themselves to be lucky to be part of the CSK squad.

How the CSK squad stacks up

The 25-man CSK squad for the 2018 IPL

Batting:

CSK have a strong top-order that is highly experienced, especially when it comes to the IPL, and more importantly, one that has played together for a pretty long time.

Murali Vijay returns to the side where he made a long-lasting impact with that knock of 127 against Rajasthan Royals back in 2010 and the CSK fans will be hoping that the Indian Test opener can rekindle that explosiveness within him.

Either of Sam Billings or Shane Watson is likely to accompany Vijay at the top of the order depending on the team combination and both are players capable of providing an explosive start at the top.

Du Plessis and skipper Dhoni, who will also be the side's wicketkeeper, will provide the solidity in the middle order while the likes of Suresh Rana, an IPL legend in his own right and Kedhar Jadhav will bear the responsibility of pushing up the run-rate for the side.

Dhruv Shorey and Ambati Rayudu are two players on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of experience who are likely to get a few matches under their belt over the course of the IPL season.

All-rounders:

In Dwayne Bravo and Shane Watson, CSK has two champion all-rounders in their side, and though the Australian may be past his best, he is still capable of winning games on their own.

Along with Jadeja, Bravo epitomises the all-rounder tag in every sense of the word with their brilliance on the field and the latter's value is enhanced even further by his specialty in bowling in the death overs.

New Zealand's Mitchell Santner also features in the squad but it will be interesting to see how much he gets to feature with the abundance of spinning options available at Dhoni's disposal.

Spin bowling:

Talking about spin bowling, CSK are well-stocked in this department even though Ravichandran Ashwin is no longer there. In Harbhajan Singh, they have an IPL veteran in their ranks who can be an instant fan-favourite.

Adding variety to their ranks will be leg-spinners Karn Sharma and Imran Tahir who are both wicket-taking options.

The left-arm options will be provided by Jadeja and Santner and it will be interesting how CSK go about selecting their playing eleven for the IPL matches given such stiff competition.

Fast bowling:

Shardul Thakur will be leading the pace attack for CSK and his new ball partner is likely to be either of Lungi Ngidi or Mark Wood.

In Wood and Bravo, they have two specialist death overs in their line-up and can prove to be a handful for the opposition batsmen.

Final Verdict

Chennai Super Kings have banked heavily on experience over youth and with a couple of steady heads in Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni at the helm of the team think-tank, the way they approached the auction was not surprising.

They do miss a bit of local flavour with Ashwin no longer in their ranks, but with the likes of Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja, Bravo and Du Plessis still around, the team's connection with their loyal fan base looks very much in tact.

Though lacking in depth, the team does have a lot of experienced personnel apart from the aforementioned lot like Watson and Harbhajan who knows how to perform in the IPL.

Stability will be key to their performance in the 2018 IPL and there is no reason why they cannot make it IPL title No 3 in 2018.