Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, on March 26. The MS Dhoni-led franchise had roped in 21 players at the mega auction for the 15th edition of IPL. And now, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming named three players that came “cheap” for the CSK team at the mega Indian Premier League auction, held in Bengaluru.
Analysing mega IPL auction
While speaking to the franchise, during the training camp in Surat, Fleming talked about CSK’s performance at the mega IPL auction and according to him; CSK got “some good blend of experience and youth.”
“We are really happy it went according to plan. We lost a couple of players which we are a bit sad about but we have gained some real talent. We've got, this year, some good blend of experience and youth. So we're really excited about the way the auction went down,” Fleming said.
According to Fleming, three New Zealand cricketers- batter Devon Conway, spinner Mitchell Santner and fast bowler Adam Milne were signed by the CSK franchise at a relatively lower price. Conway was roped in by CSK for an amount of Rs 1 Crore, Milne was signed for an amount of Rs 1.9 Crore and CSK had to spend also Rs 1.9 Crore in order to sign Santner.
“Well they came cheap so it was good. They are all very skilful players. Devon Conway has had a great couple of years internationally. Mitch has been a stalwart for us. And in Adam Milne we have got a bit of pace. So all three of them have great credentials and a good skill set for us,” the former New Zealand skipper further added.
CSK's retained players
Earlier, CSK had decided to retain four players ahead of the mega auction for the 15th edition of IPL. Skipper MS Dhoni, Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, English all-rounder Moeen Ali and Indian batter Ruturaj Gaikwad were the four cricketers retained by Chennai Super Kings, ahead of the mega auction.
Mumbai Indians franchise led by Rohit Sharma will have Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Lucknow Super Giants in Group A of the 2022 edition of IPL.
On the other hand, Group B is comprised of defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrises Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Punjab Kings, and Gujarat Titans.
Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2022
MS Dhoni (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Devon Conway, Subhranshu Senapati, Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Simarjeet Singh, Adam Milne, Mukesh Choudhary, Dwayne Bravo, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Prashant Solanki
