Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) already have a strong squad and they are not over-dependent on their overseas players heading into the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai on Tuesday. However, they have released eight players ahead of the auction and also have a remaining purse of ₹31.4 crore. With this, they can buy a maximum of six players, including three foreigners.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “They don’t have overdependence on overseas players. They stick with whoever they pick. They get Devon Conway to bat up the order, get Moeen Ali in the middle, and then they keep Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana. This is exactly the four people you get to see playing eight out of 10 times.”
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He added: “They haven’t released too many people. The team was complete last year as well and they have chances to make it even stronger this year because, barring Akash Singh and Ambati Rayudu, none of the other players released were playing in the XI regularly.”
Aakash Chopra also added that Akash Singh’s release won’t impact CSK as Mukesh Choudhary has returned. While saying that Ambati Rayudu played as an Impact Player quite often, he also added that they could buy a suitable replacement for him at the auction as well.
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“What makes Chennai special? It’s a very simple thing. They have a magician named MS Dhoni – a calculator, a computer. He is a calculator or a computer because he buys the right players at the right price,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “Then he is someone who gets the best out of people. Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube – there are so many examples of players who went to different places and their performances were decent but as soon as they came here, they became match-winning players.”
