Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has opened up on the questions that were raised about whether the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) overspent while retaining Ravindra Jadeja before the IPL 2025 auction as well. However, he referred to it as a right decision by the five-time champions. However, CSK spent ₹65 crore to retain five players before the auction. They have a remaining purse of ₹55 crore to make the rest of their squad as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “They have retained Ruturaj Gaikwad for ₹18 crore and Ravindra Jadeja also for ₹18 crore. They have given ₹13 crore to Matheesha Pathirana and ₹12 crore to Shivam Dube. So overall they spent only that much money that will get deducted. They didn’t spend one extra rupee. MS Dhoni was retained for ₹4 crore.”
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“There was a thought for sure whether Jadeja is overpriced because his T20 numbers are not incredible. Even if you see for Chennai, he has made important contributions but they haven’t been so huge that you would say it’s 18-crore worth. However, he is a very important player for Chennai. Chennai wants to keep their family together. Sometimes it is more than the money and you won’t get this skill set. Axar Patel is there and he is already retained. After that, you can find Krunal Pandya or Mushir Khan but the same quality isn’t there. So I feel retaining Jadeja was the right decision,” he again shared.
In the same video, Aakash Chopra also added that Matheesha Pathirana and Ravindra Jadeja’s retentions imply that CSK have secured eight of the 20 overs as well.
“They have secured eight overs of bowling. There are four overs of Matheesha Pathirana – four overs at the death, absolute gold dust, and four overs of Ravindra Jadeja, which will be bowled in the middle overs. They are not bowled with the new or old ball. His quota is finished by the 13th or 14th over,” he said.
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“They have an opener in Ruturaj Gaikwad and also the captain. So well done. Shivam Dube, who bats down the order, and there are very few Indians who bat down the order. He is one of the rare guys who hits a lot of sixes, and there is MS Dhoni. He was hitting a lot of sixes in the last two years. They also have Ravindra Jadeja as a floater in the middle and a gun fielder, of course,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
