Former India batsman and now a renowned commentator, Aakash Chopra believes that the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are likely to go after Shardul Thakur in the upcoming IPL 2024 auction.
The IPL 2024 auction is scheduled for December 19 in Dubai.
Shardul Thakur has been released by KKR after his poor IPL 2023 season, in which he picked only 7 wickets in 11 matches and leaked runs at an economy of 10.47, and he also hogged a huge purse of INR 10.75 crore.
Don’t be surprised if CSK pick Shardul Thakur: Aakash Chopra
On the AakashVani show on Sports 18, Aakash Chopra discussed why MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming might want CSK to go after Shardul Thakur, who was with CSK from 2018 to 2021 and helped them win 2 IPL titles in that period.
CSK have released Dwaine Pretorius, Akash Singh, Kyle Jamieson, and Sisanda Magala; Chopra pointed out that their remaining pacer are inexperienced, and for that, they could rope in Thakur for some experience.
“It’s clear there are two departments where they will have to rebuild a little. One is the fast-bowling department because Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh – they will need someone other than that,” Chopra said.
“They need fast bowlers. It could be overseas or Indian. They will definitely go shopping for fast bowlers. They generally go towards experienced players. So don’t be surprised if they pick Shardul Thakur because 31.4 crore rupees is a lot and Shardul Thakur was also earlier part of this team.”
Aakash Chopra also mentioned Ben Stokes, who has pulled out of the IPL 2024 season due to workload management and was consequently released by CSK.
With the purse of INR 31.40 crore, CSK could after Rachin Ravindra or Daryl Mitchell, both of them will have multiple teams looking for them after their impressive performances in the World Cup 2023.
Chopra added: “They will need an all-rounder. It could be Rachin Ravindra in place of Ben Stokes, or they might look towards Daryl Mitchell.”
CSK Players retained: MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Chowdhary, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana
