The IPL 2022 mega-auction got underway on Saturday morning in Bangalore and saw plenty of exciting picks and strategies from the ten franchises. While other franchises re-built their squads with fresh faces, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) went with their tried and tested method of buying back the players who they had released earlier.
This strategy have paid off for them in the past, as they won the 2018 and 2021 IPL with experienced players. However, now with most of them ageing and this auction likely to be the last mega-auction for a long time, CSK’s choices raised eyebrows.
They had retained 4 players ahead of the mega-auction: Ravindra Jadeja (16 crore), skipper MS Dhoni (12 crore), Moeen Ali (8 crore), and Ruturaj Gaikwad (6 crore).
Till evening on the first day of the mega-auction, the Yellow Army had made four buys so far – all four of them represented them last season: Robin Uthappa (2 crore), Dwayne Bravo (4.4 crore), Ambati Rayudu (6.75 crore), and Deepak Chahar (14 crore). However, they didn’t raised the paddle for Suresh Raina, but went after both Faf du Plessis and Josh Hazlewood but couldn’t get them.
At the time of writing, after these 4 players have been bought and 4 retained, CSK have 20.85 crore left in their purse and still need to pick many players.
Fans called out this strategy of the 4-time IPL champions as risky because the likes of Bravo, Uthappa, and Rayudu along with Dhoni are at the fag end of their careers.
The Delhi Capitals franchise, who have been impressive with their picks at the mega-auction, trolled CSK for rebuying their former players with this hilarious tweet:
.@ChennaiIPL after every #IPLAuction ? pic.twitter.com/T7G2zQJA96
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 12, 2022
Speaking about Delhi Capitals, they had retained Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and Anrich Nortje and went in the auction with 47.5 crore. They then went on to assemble strong overseas players in David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Mustafizur Rahman for cheap prices, along with Indian players Shardul Thakur, and Kuldeep Yadav.
The Capitals have 20 crore left in their purse with 9 players, all of whom are likely starters, in their squad.
Also Read: IPL’s First Auctioneer Sent A Message For Hugh Edmeades After He Collapsed
