Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are better placed than the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) heading into the IPL 2024 auction. CSK released two big-ticket players, Ben Stokes and Ambati Rayudu, before the auction, with the former making himself unavailable and the latter retiring after last season’s title win as well. They have a purse of ₹31.40 crore and they can acquire a maximum of six players, including three overseas as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “I feel Chennai are the best placed. They were last season’s champions. They have a lot of money and they don’t need to buy too many players. Ben Stokes and Ambati Rayudu left and suddenly you got a lot of money available. Mukesh Choudhary is back available again. They can buy whoever they want because they have a lot of money. The team is looking extremely strong. I feel they will look towards one or two Indian batters. They might take Shahrukh Khan, Manish Pandey or Karun Nair.”

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Shahrukh Khan, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair were released by the Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants respectively as part of their retention process as well. And, CSK could consider buying Shahrukh as well. Aakash Chopra also added that MS Dhoni is one of CSK’s biggest assets.

“Then they will need some fast bowlers. They will get that. In any case, you say about Dhoni – ‘Want to become a batter or a bowler, I will get that done’. He is an amazing player and a fantastic captain,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “So, in my opinion, Chennai are better placed than the others because both RCB and MI have to do shopping, especially in the bowling department, and they don’t have as much money as they should have had. They could have had more money, but unfortunately, they don’t.”