Ahead of the IPL 2023 mini-auction, the Chennai Super Kings released a total of 8 players from their IPL 2022 squad.
The four-time champions had a forgettable tournament as they finished 9th in the 10-team tournament with only 4 wins in 14 games. Despite such a dismal season, CSK has not revamped its squad.
Their released players’ list, though, includes a few big names in Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, and Chris Jordan while there are a few Indian players as well, who have been let go by the MS Dhoni-led franchise despite them not being given a chance to prove themselves last season.
Here are 3 players who didn’t play a single game in IPL 2022 and have been released by CSK:
KM Asif
Kerala fast bowler KM Asif has been a constant figure in the CSK squad – he’d been with the franchise for 5 seasons from 2018 to 2022 – however, Asif has played only a total of 3 matches for CSK – 2 in 2018 and 1 in 2021, picking up 4 wickets but with an expensive economy of over 11 – and none in 2022.
Asif recently was impressive for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022, picking up 12 wickets in 7 matches at a brilliant economy of 7. Despite this, CSK opted not to retain the speedster.
C Hari Nishaanth
Tamil Nadu batter C Hari Nishaanth was part of the CSK squad for IPL 2021 and 2022, picked up at his base price of 20 lakh, but the left-handed opener couldn’t get a single game for CSK in the past two seasons as the opening slots were fixed for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis and Devon Conway in the last couple of seasons.
Now, CSK has released Hari Nishaanth as they might look for other backup opening options in the auction. Nishaanth has an ordinary record in domestic T20 cricket: an average of 26 and a strike rate of 121 in 30 T20s. He is not a regular for Tamil Nadu either in T20 cricket.
Bhagath Varma
Hyderabad off-spinner Bhagath Varma had also spent his last two seasons with CSK on the bench after being picked for his 20 lakhs in the auction.
Bhagath Varma doesn’t have much experience in the format: he’s taken 2 wickets in 5 T20 matches – all in the latest SMAT tournament – but maintained a good economy of less than 6.
